A Heart Bound by Darkness
by Critias
Summary: Losing her boyfriend pushed 18 year old Kaiya to make the deal with the demon. Now, she's helping Miaka and Taka save the Four Gods' Universe from the very same one and deal with the feeling of love she has for the blue haired warrior... ChichirixOC
1. Chapter 1

Author notes: WHEE! Yesh! It's me! Critias! None of you shall ever know my true name… Unless I put it in my profile… Yeah. ANYWAY! Hope my summary didn't ruin anything. Um… I guess I'm gonna take a shot at a Chichiri x OC thing. I can't guarantee it'll be good, so please shoot me if it's crappy. Suggestions would be appreciated. If I sound like I don't appreciate it and sound like somebody mad at you instead, don't take it personally, I'm like that. It's my way of saying I appreciate it. Btw, this story basically follows the storyline of the second OVA. Enough with my rambling! On with the story! By the way, I'll be alternating between updating chapters of my two stories.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cold night air filled the empty streets of Tokyo. The moon and stars in the sky shone their light down onto the city. All in all, the city seemed to be very peaceful. But of course, not everything was always as it seemed.

Eighteen year old Kaiya Niigata lay on her side in her bed by a window. Moonlight shone through the blinds, illuminating everything in the room. Her arms lay beside her face as she slept. Two shining streaks were on her face, from the eyes to her chin, revealing that she had been crying.

Suddenly, Kaiya scrunched her face and shifted so that she lay on her back. She whimpered once and her face relaxed.

In Kaiya's dream…

Kaiya stood in a void of darkness. The only thing visible was her own body. Suddenly, a bright light appeared to her left. Kaiya turned her body to face it. She saw a scene. A teenage boy with dark brown hair lay in the middle of a crosswalk. The back of his head faced her, while his body lay on its back. A large pool of blood could be seen around him. Splotches of blood could be seen all over his clothes and flesh. Police kept the crowd behind the yellow tape that circled the area; medics were scrambling about. One medic knelt beside the boy and lifted his arm to see if there was a pulse on his wrist. When the other medics came around, the medic who had knelt, stood up, and shook his head.

A teenage girl with long, dark purple hair, that reached her waist, and brown eyes broke through the crowd and ran past the police to the boy. She wore a sage colored jacket with a red tie, white shirt, and a long brown skirt.

"Kenji! Kenji!" she cried out and tears flew as she ran.

The girl knelt beside the boy and cried over his body.

"Kenji… Kenji, you can't be dead!" she shouted and shook her head. She threw her head back and howled a cry of sadness.

Kaiya stood frozen in place, transfixed on the scene before her.

Finally, she began to run towards it. She ran as fast as she could, tears flowing down her face like an endless river. But each step she took didn't seem to do anything. The scene began to speed away the minute she moved. She tried to run faster, but tripped and fell. The scene continued to speed away 'til it was gone.

Kaiya sat on her knees and let her tears drip onto the ground. She recognized the girl as herself. The boy that lay dead on the ground had been her boyfriend, Kenji, who was the same age as her.

"It hurts too much… Why won't it go away…" she whispered, and bent so her forehead touched the ground. "Someone take it away…"

"I can take it away…"

Kaiya lifted her head to see where the voice came from. She looked around, but saw no one.

"I can take your pain away…"

Kaiya didn't bother looking this time.

"How?" she asked aloud.

"But you must pay a price…"

"Take it away. Take my pain away!" she said without a second thought.

From within the darkness, a man smiled evilly.

A moment after Kaiya had said her request, she felt a sharp pain in her chest and the on the back of her right hand. Kaiya held her chest in pain. It was like her heart was being electrocuted. Her hand felt like something was being burned onto it. She could only lie in pain. She could not shout at all, since air did not want to enter her lungs.

After about a minute, all the pain finally stopped and a black, marble-like jewel came out of her body and flew into the darkness.

"It is done. You will feel no more sadness, no more pain. You have only six weeks left of your life… The symbol on your right hand will tell you how much time you have left. Enjoy the time you have left, Mistress of Time."

Kaiya's gaze returned to the floor. Her eyes were devoid of all emotion. Cackling was heard from the darkness…

Back OUT of the dream…

Kaiya's eyes snapped open. She looked around her room, then at her clock. It was a minute past twelve.

'It was just a dream…' she thought and lay back on the bed. She pulled the covers over herself and dozed off back to sleep. As she slept, a black symbol glowed on the back of her right hand, while a pink symbol glowed on the back of her left hand.

The next morning…

Kaiya sat up and stretched her limbs. Afterwards, she walked sleepily to the bathroom across from her room. As she was combing her hair in the mirror, she noticed a character on the back of her right hand. She put her brush down and held her hand up. It was a Chinese character, only it was outlined like a bubble letter.

Kaiya thought back to all the Chinese vocabulary she had ever studied in school; about four years worth of it.

'Death…' she thought, then remembered her dream and shook her head, 'Probably just a stupid prank…'

Kaiya turned on the tap water. She put her hand under and water and tried to rub it off, thinking it might be some kind of ink. But the character remained the same. The only thing she did was turn her hand red.

Kaiya sighed in defeat.

'I don't have time for this.' She thought, then finished brushing her hair and returned to her room.

Kaiya was pretty much a normal eighteen year old girl. She attended Jounan High School and had pretty good marks; usually A's and B's. Her father had died in a fire accident when she was young, so she lived with her mother and little sister, Meiko, who was only eight.

As she was putting on her school uniform, her mind began to wander, eventually wrapping around the subject of Kenji. Kenji had been her boyfriend for two years, but her best friend since childhood.

'Kenji…' she thought emptily. Suddenly, she realized something. Ever since the accident a couple days ago, she had been incredibly depressed and refused to speak to anyone much. But today, she felt nothing, like a hollow emotion.

Pushing the thought aside, she put on the rest of her uniform and went down for breakfast. Her house was two stories high. Her sister's and her room were on the second floor, beside each other, with the bathroom across from them, and her mother's room was beside the bathroom. Connecting the top floor to the bottom floor were the stairs, that led to the living room. The living room was basically your average living room; a couch, coffee table, television, and a few plants. Right next to the living room, was the kitchen, and next to that was the dining area.

As she sat down at the dining table, her mother handed her two slices of toast. Her mother had short, curly brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a knee-length black skirt, a white, wooly sweater, with an apron over top, and house slippers with white socks.

"Good morning, Kaiya." She said smiling, "How're you today? Do you feel any better?"

Kaiya took a bite out of her toast and swallowed it.

"Mm. I'm fine, thanks." She answered and continued munching on her toast.

After a few minutes, Meiko, who was sitting on the other side of the table, hopped off her chair and walked around the table to her sister. Meiko had chin length brown hair and purple eyes. She wore a canary yellow dress with a little yellow bow on the front.

Meiko tugged lightly at Kaiya's sleeve to get her attention.

Kaiya finished the rest of her toast and looked down at her sister.

"What is it, Meiko?" she asked kindly.

Meiko held out a little flower bracelet to Kaiya.

"You were kinda sad before… and I wanted you to be happy, so I made this for you." She said shyly.

Kaiya gently took the flower bracelet from her sister and put it on her wrist.

"I love it." She said and bent down to hug Meiko. "Thank you. I feel happier now."

Meiko pulled away from her sister and happily ran over to her mother to tell her the good news.

Kaiya's mother bent down and listened, then chuckled.

"You better go, Kaiya. Don't want to be late." Her mother said.

Kaiya nodded and picked up her school bag, then walked out the door.

As she walked down the street, she came across the crosswalk where Kenji died. It seemed as if nothing had even happened.

Looking at it, Kaiya still felt nothing. Her eyes were desolate.

"Heeeeey, Kaiya!"

Kaiya snapped out of her daze and turned her head to her left. Running happily towards her was Miaka Yuki. Behind her was Taka Sukunami. Kaiya was good friends with them both.

Miaka was sixteen years old and went to the same school as Kaiya, so she had the same uniform. Miaka had shoulder length, reddish brown and greenish gold eyes.

Taka was nineteen years old. He was in the same university as Miaka's older brother, Keisuke. He had short, dark blue hair and golden eyes. He wore an aquamarine colored sweater with a sapphire blue shirt underneath and brown pants.

Miaka and Taka were an inseparable couple. They loved each other as if they were newly weds, and never stopped loving each other in that way. A while ago, Kaiya had asked Miaka how she met Taka. Miaka had told her the story of how she had been sucked into a book called The Universe of the Four Gods and Taka had saved her upon her arrival. He was known as Tamahome at the time and it was love at first sight for them both.

Kaiya hadn't known whether to believe Miaka's story or not. A fictional character can't just come out of a book just like that. But Miaka was definitely not the kind of person to lie about how she first met her soul mate.

Kaiya put on a smile and waved a hello.

"Good morning." Miaka said, stopping in front of Kaiya.

"Morning, Miaka." Kaiya said, then turned to Taka, "Morning, Taka."

"You haven't been to school for a couple days… Are you really okay now?" Miaka asked, her face taking on a worried expression.

"You and Kenji were really close…" Taka said, his face grave.

Kaiya smiled nervously and shook her hands in front of her.

"I'm okay now, really." She said, "Don't worry about me. Cheer up."

Miaka and Taka's faces lightened and they smiled. Suddenly, Miaka noticed something on Kaiya's hand.

"Kaiya, what's that on your hand?" she asked.

Now Taka looked and also noticed.

Kaiya looked, then quickly hid it behind her back.

"It's nothing. I think someone drew on my hand." She said, "I must have been in a real daze."

"And a long one too if-" Taka said before taking an elbow to the gut from Miaka.

Kaiya let out a small laugh.

"I'm glad you're feeling better now, Kaiya." Miaka said, "Let's go before we're late."

Kaiya nodded and walked with Miaka and Taka to school.

At Kaiya and Miaka's school, as the three of them are talking, an annoyed looking girl came up to them.

"Oh, you're even going out at SCHOOL now?" she asked.

Miaka laughed sheepishly.

"Oh, come on, Yui. We just walked to school is all." She said.

Yui Hongo had been Miaka's best friend since kindergarten. Her hair was blond and reached her shoulder blades. She had blue eyes as well. Since she went to the same school, she obviously wore the same uniform.

Kyo, another friend of Miaka's decided to join in the conversation.

"Such a bothersome love couple." She said tauntingly, "They want more love than any high school student have the rights to."

"They're even having sex now!" Yui remarked.

"Oh, really?" asked Kyo.

Miaka blushed and waved a hand at them.

"You too, Kyo!" she said and laughed.

Kaiya just stood with a sweat drop and a nervous smile plastered onto her face.

As the girls talked, a boy with short, lavender hair and bright purple eyes walked by. He wore the same uniform, except he wore gray pants.

"Good morning, Ms. Yuki." He said.

Miaka turned around to see the young man.

"Shigyou?" Miaka whispered.

"Good morning, Shigyou!" Kyo said excitedly and ran over to join the crowd of girls that had surrounded Shigyou.

"You know him, Miaka?" asked Yui.

Miaka nodded.

"Yeah… Shigyou transferred into our class last week." She said.

"He's really popular." Said Taka.

"So he's in your class, huh…?" Yui muttered.

"What about it?" Miaka asked.

"He's already announced he's running for student council president." Yui answered, "He'll probably win too, 'cause he's so popular."

"He's just a freshman and he's already doing something so big?" Taka, then realized what time it was, "I gotta go. See you guys later. See you later, Miaka."

As Taka waved goodbye, Shigyou watched from the corner of his eye.

"Hey, Shigyou?" said Kyo.

Shigyou faced Kyo and smiled.

"Oh, sorry." He said, "That guy's a college student, right? He looks pretty cool."

"Oh, he's Miaka's boyfriend." She answered, "He really is cool."

"I'm jealous. Where'd she meet such a cool guy like him?" another girl said.

"Inside the book. He appeared from the pages of a story." Shigyou answered, "But… those kinds of miracles, I don't believe in them."

The girls looked to one another in confusion.

Ding… Ding… Ding…

"Ah! There's the bell. Let's go, Kaiya." Miaka said.

Kaiya nodded an ran off inside.

In the Tokyo University…

Tetsuya and Keisuke sat at a table, doing some research, in a small room filled with books. They were part of the Ancient History Club now.

Keisuke was twenty years old. He had blondish-brown hair and brown eyes. He wore an unbuttoned, bisque colored, collared casual shirt with a black T-shirt underneath and verdigris colored jeans. (Sometimes I don't know half the things I type.)

Tetsuya was also twenty. He had short brown hair and brown eyes, but always wore sunglasses over them. He wore a brown jacket, a white T-shirt underneath and black jeans. He was also Yui's boyfriend.

Flipping a page in the book he was reading, Tetsuya groaned.

"I wish we'd have more people. Including Taka, we've only got three people." He complained, "That's why they assigned us such a tiny room."

As Tetsuya leaned back in frustration, Keisuke walked over to he small refrigerator in the top left corner of the room.

"And who put a fridge with only beer in it in that tiny room, huh!" Tetsuya yelled.

Keisuke looked over his shoulder and laughed nervously.

"Want a drink, Tetsuya?" Keisuke asked.

"Jeez. You act like what happened six months ago didn't affect you." said Tetsuya.

Keisuke grabbed two cans from the fridge. He placed one in front of Tetsuya, then sat down.

"I'll never forget it." Keisuke said, "Hey, Tetsuya, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Tetsuya asked.

"Why are you obsessed so much about the book and the gods, and especially Taka?" Keisuke asked and popped open the can.

Tetsuya thought for a moment, then gazed out to the window.

"Suppose… Suppose the same thing happens to us again." He said.

"The same thing? You mean going into the book again?" Keisuke asked.

Tetsuya nodded.

"If it happens, I'll go into the book, too. No matter what, and I'll protect Yui." He said quietly.

"Tetsuya…" Keisuke said, grabbing his friends attention and held the beer can up, "Cheers!"

"Heh, sure thing." agreed Tetsuya. He picked up his can and gently knocked it against Keisuke's.

Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted them.

"Who's there?" Keisuke called out.

"And who's polite enough to knock around here?" Tetsuya muttered.

"It's open!" they both shouted.

The door opened and a woman with lavender hair peeked in. Her hair appeared to reach the middle of her back and she had light purple eyes. She wore a rose colored jacket with an orange shirt underneath and blue jeans.

"Excuse me… I'd like to join this group." She said.

Back at Jounan…

Shigyou stood atop the water tower of the school and gazed down at the students on the school grounds. He wore a smug look upon his face as he did so.

"While they cannot accomplish much alone, after they assemble into groups, they bare their teeth against those who are weaker than them." He muttered, "The devil's true power lies inside the hearts of humans."

Shigyou let out a quiet evil laugh.

Meanwhile…

Kaiya gazed out the window of one of the food classrooms of the school. She had just finished her food class and it was the end of the day.

Kaiya turned her attention from the window to the black character on her hand. All day, this mark nagged at her mind. She couldn't think of any possible way for it to have gotten on her hand. Tattooing it on was certainly out of the question. She wouldn't have gotten a tattoo of the character for death, she would never have been drunk to get one, not that she ever drank, and her hand would be sore. Nobody could have drawn on her hand either. The bubble lettered character was done perfectly. No lines were wavy at all. Something that well down would probably need a freaking ruler!

The only explanation left was that her dream was real.

But Kaiya didn't want to believe that either. It's true that she no longer felt the pain and sadness of losing Kenji, and even got the Chinese character on her hand.

The more she thought about it, the more she believed it was real and her mind began to panic.

'Am I really going to die in six weeks?' she thought.

Suddenly, she heard a voice. The minute the voice sounded in her mind, she felt pain in her chest, just like the dream. She dropped to her knees and clutched her chest.

_Mistress of Time… Lend my priestess and warriors your power. Help them summon me once more. Hurry! … Hurry!_

Once the voice stopped, so did her pain. As if to answer her question from before, a number flashed in her mind. The number read five weeks and five days.

Kaiya panted heavily, her eyes wide with fear.

"I'm really gonna die… I'm really gonna die…" she whispered, "It's too much… Knowing I'm going to die so soon… It's too much."

Kaiya wiped away her tears and stood up. She walked over to one of the kitchen drawers and took out a small knife. Slowly sitting down, her back against the sink cupboards, she held the knife over her left wrist with her right hand. Without hesitation, she pierced deep into her skin and sliced across her wrist. A vein was cut and blood began to drip immediately. She shifted the knife to the other hand and did the same.

Slowly, her vision began to blacken. Before she fell completely unconscious, she heard a voice.

"Miaka!"

Suddenly, a bright crimson light surrounded her. Kaiya finally welcomed the sleep to come to her and passed out.

Elsewhere…

A man in darkness growled. Every feature of his head was hidden by the shadows. Only his body could be seen.

"Curse you, Suzaku… Curse you…" he muttered, "She was almost mine…"


	2. Chapter 2

Author notes: So sorry for not updating for a while XD I've been dealing with homework, not being able to find a job, laziness… But mostly laziness. Plus it was kinda hard to figure out everybody's clothes. They didn't wear PANTS for god sake! Plus I made a change to Kaiya's title, instead of Mistress of the Chronicles. I've made it Mistress of Time. Hope you love this chapter. Hell, I'd be happy if you liked it!  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Kaiya opened her eyes. Upon focusing her eyes, she found herself staring at somebody's face. She turned her head a bit to see that it was a man with a white cat on his shoulder.

"You're awake, no da!" the man said cheerfully.

"Meow!" the cat… said and raised a paw.

"This guy's name is Tama, no da." the man said.

His hair was sky-blue, and closely cropped to his skull – except for a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and long bangs that defied gravity by curling up and over to one side as if they had a mind o their own. He wore a cone shaped straw hat, secured under his chin with a long, white string. His shirt was loose and plain white, and he wore dark green pants. His blue drape that descended over one shoulder and was secured around his waist was dotted with large, white swirly rings, like bubbles. His strange outfit was crowned with a necklace of widely spaced, fat, green beads. But by far, the most unusual feature was his face. His eyes while expressive seemed to be closed. His face was a perfect study of pleasantness. In his right hand, he held a staff. The staff was topped with two heart-shaped metal loops, one atop the other. The lower heart held four smaller rings that dangled from it.

Kaiya placed her hands on the bed and pushed herself to sit up, only to lie back down under the covers when she discovered she was naked.

"Why am I naked?" she cried, her eyes screwed shut and hands gripping the blanket tightly. 'Did... Did he do something to me...?'

As if knowing what she was thinking, the man answered her unspoken question.

"Y-you don't have to worry about if I did anything to you, n-no da. I'm a monk, so..." The man said, knowing very well what he would say next would contradictwhatever he hadjust said to her. He silently thanked the mask on his facethat hid his blush."H-here're your clothes, n-no da."

Kaiya opened her eyes and looked at the man. He was standing straight. The front of his body faced her, but his head was turned to the side. He had her clothes neatly folded and held out to her, as if on a silver plate.

Kaiya gently took them from him and held them close to her.

'Where am I?' she wondered. 'How'd I get here?'

Suddenly, she remembered and her eyes became blank and emotionless.

'That's right… I killed myself…' she thought, 'I'm dead.'

The man sensed something unusual about the girl and turned his head back to her. He looked down at her. She was staring into space, a blank look on her face. Before he could ask what was wrong, the doors opened and a voice called out.

"Chichiri!"

Kaiya and the blue haired man turned their attention to the doors to see a woman with a squat, aged body, and an old, cragged face. Her brows were heavy over wizened eyes, and her jowls and earlobes sagged with the ages. Long gray hair was twisted on top of her head into a fat bun, held in place by a gold hairpiece, complete with long, spiked fingers that poked up, framing the top of her head. The remainder of her hair hung in a thick tail down her back, forming a silver cape over her white and green robes.

Kaiya shrieked and hid the rest of herself under the blankets.

"Why was I sent to hell?" she shouted.

"Oh, be quiet. You're not even dead…" the woman said sternly, then turned to the blue haired man. "Chichiri."

The strange man looked from the girl to the woman. His faced showed the same pleasantness as before.

"Yes, Taiitsukun, no da?" he said.

'Least I know their names now.' Kaiya thought, peeking out from the covers.

"They're here." the woman said, "Bring themto meso I can explain what's going on."

"What about her, no da?" Chichiri asked, pointing a finger at Kaiya.

"She will remain here. We will see you and the others when you arrive." said Taiitsukun.

"Alright then, no da." Chichiri said reluctantly.

Tama raised a paw to say goodbye.

Chichiri placed his cape flat on the floor and stood on top of it. He silently muttered a spell, then lightly tapped his cape with the end of his staff. The ground below him glowed a bright red.

Kaiya leaned over the bed and gaped. The ground appeared to be absorbing him whole. Soon, Chichiri was completely gone, along with Tama, and the cape was absorbed as well.

"How-how did he...?" she stammered.

"Are you quite done?" said Taiitsukun.

Kaiya sat up and nodded, although her face showed the complete opposite.

"Get dressed. I have questions to ask you." Taiitsukun said and walked out of the room, closing the doors behind her.

Kaiya quickly got out of bed and put on her uniform. After finishing the last button on her jacket, she held up her right hand and looked at the character.

'So I'm still alive...' she thought. She held up her other hand and looked at both her wrists. She found that they were bandaged. 'How is it I'm still alive...'

Kaiya walked out of the room, and into another. It appeared to be like some sort of throne room. Blue satin curtains covered the walls. The tiled floors were a sandy color and a red carpet lead to the throne, where Taiitsukun sat. Kaiya stood before Taiitsukun.

"What's your name?" Taiitsukun asked.

Kaiya looked uncomfortably at Taiitsukun.

"M-my name is Kaiya, Kaiya Niigata." she said quietly.

"Kaiya, will you tell me what that character on your right hand is?" Taiitsukun asked.

Kaiya's eyes widened.

"I-it's nothing." she lied, "I just drew it on my hand one day."

Taiitsukun closed her eyes for a moment.

"It is no mere drawing." she said, "My disciple, Chichiri, found you injured and brought you here, to Mt. Taikyoku, to be healed. But it seems you cannot be healed with magic. That character forms a barrier against healing magic around you. I have tried to remove it, but it is useless. I doubt you would place a curse on yourself. In other words, somebody else put it on you."

"How did... How did your disciple find me?" Kaiya asked, trying to change the subject.

"He saw a magenta colored pillar of light shoot up to the sky from a forest. He sensed a great energy and followed it, finding you." Taiitsukun answered.

"Magenta colored pillar...?" Kaiya repeated. She paused a moment, thinking back to before she passed out. She suddenly remembered seeing a strange light and hearing a voice just before passing out. But she hesitated to relay her memory to Taiitsukun. "Before I passed out... I think I saw that color you're talking about... and... I heard a voice in my head. It called me, "Mistress of Time...""

Taiitsukun's eyes widened, and leaned forward a bit.

"You are the Mistress of Time?" she exclaimed.

"I-I don't know. All I heard was a voice calling me that and I was supposed to help a priestess and warriors or something..." Kaiya said nervously.

Taiitsukun opened her mouth to say something but stopped and leaned back.

"They're here." she said.

Kaiya looked up, her face showing confusion.

"Who's they?" she asked.

Taiitsukun ignored her question and floated off her chair to a large green door on her right.

"Come." she ordered Kaiya, who was hesitant to oblige, "They must know the even greater dangers now..."

Kaiya continued to follow Taiitsukun, having no clue what the old woman was mumbling about, but kept her mouth shut.

The door led to the outside. Thescenary was breath taking. It was an ethereal landscape of mountains and temples. Strange, lavender spheres floated, suspended in the misty air that twined its way through the rocky spires.

"Only a select few are allowed to view this mountain." said Taiitsukun, noticing Kaiya's surprised reaction. Taiitsukun held up her hands, fingers interlaced. In one fluid motion, she snapped them apart with a gasp. Power streamed from them to surround Kaiya.

Kaiya was sent screaming into the air, sitting upon a large, pink tile. Her eyes were tightly shut and she gripped the edges of the tile tightly, making her knuckles go white.

The pink tile moved forward, swiftly and smoothly twining around the peaks and lavender globes, intent on its course.

When Kaiya could no longer feel any movement of the tile, she opened her eyes. She found herself on solid ground once more and also some transparent people in front of her.

"Agh! A sand witch!"

Kaiya looked to her right to see Taka, clinging onto a man with bright orange hair and a large grin upon his face, fang-like teeth appearing in the corners of his mouth. The man wore a lavender colored, vest-like overcoat with white sleeves, and white pants. On his ears, he wore two, blue teardrop shaped earrings and around his neck, he wore an evenly spaced necklace of small blue beads.

'What's Taka doing here?' Kaiya wondered.

"Who're you calling a sand witch!" Taiitsukun demanded, a hint of anger in her voice.

The man with the orange hair laughed.

"Too bad ya lost yer' memories." he said, "It's gonna take ya a while ta' get used ta her again!"

"Taiitsukun! Kaiya?"

Kaiya turned her attention to her front.

"Mi-Miaka?" Kaiya asked, surprised, and stood up.

Miaka ran over and tackled, slash hugged, Kaiya, causing the two girls to fall. Kaiya put her hands on the ground beside her and pushed the two of them up into a sitting position, with Miaka still smiling and hugging her. Kaiya placed a hand on Miaka's shoulder and tried to push off the weight keeping her down.

"Miaka!" she said, laughing a little, "Get off of me! It's great to see you again, but I can't keep us sitting up forever!"

Finally, Miaka let go and pulled away. It was then that she noticed the bandages on Kaiya's wrist. Her smiling face quickly went away and was replaced by worry. Miaka grabbed Kaiya's left arm and looked at the wrist.

"Kaiya, what happened? Are you alright?" she asked.

"It's okay, Miaka, no da. I found her and brought her to Mt. Taikyoku to be healed, no da."

Kaiya tilted her head back to see Chichiri behind her, upside down in her view. Tama popped out from his left shoulder and waved a paw.

"You're that guy who disappeared into the floor!" Kaiya exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

Chichiri bent over Kaiya. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, he still had a smile on his face.

"The name's Chichiri, no da." he said.

"Ah, so you're the girl Chichiri brought in?"

Kaiya turned her head back to the front.

"Ah, that's right. You don't know everyone, huh, Kaiya?" Miaka said and stood up. She held out a hand to help Kaiya up. She pointed to a man with short purple hair and pink eyes. He wore a pink traveling robe with a baby blue color and a yellow sash around his waist. He also wore dark violet pants.

"That's Nuriko." Miaka said, then pointed to a man with brown, spiky hair and blue eyes. Around his forehead he wore two headbands, one purple and one green, that crossed, like an X. he wore a lime green tunic with white pants. He had a yellow cloth wrapped around his shoulders and a purple sash around his waist. "Mitsukake." Then to a boy beside him. The boy had light brown hair, short bangs that covered his forehead and two longer bangs beside his face, and a ponytail at the top of his head and he had golden-brown eyes. The boy wore two layers of robes. The first layer was just plain white. The second layer was a light-yellow color with a red neckline. "Chiriko."

"Nice to meet you." Chiriko said and smiled happily at them.

"Are your wounds healing well?" Mitsukake asked. His face showed the sincerity and concern he felt, and Kaiya couldn't help but smile at him and nod.

Miaka continued her introductions.

"That's Hotohori." she said and pointed to another man beside Chiriko. He had long, dark brown hair that was tied into a low ponytail and was hung over one shoulder and his eyes were a bright golden color. Like Nuriko, he wore a traveling robe as well. It was crimson on the top and bottom, but had pink cloth around his waste like a corset and he had a purple sash around that.

Kaiya couldn't help but stare at the man. He was perhaps the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

"It is nice to meet you." Hotohori said, smiling at her.

Kaiya blushed, then nodded and dropped her gaze.

"And behind us..." Miaka said and turned around to point to the orange haired man. "That's Tasuki."

Taka had regained his composure and now stood beside Tasuki. Tasuki didn't seem all that happy to see her.

Kaiya fidgeted under his stare... or glare... she couldn't tell which one it was.

Miaka then pointed to Taiitsukun and Chichiri.

"And you've already met Taiitsukun and Chichiri." she said.

Chichiri continued to smile the same pleasant smile she had first seen him with.

She didn't know what, but something didn't seem right about his face.

"Taiitsukun, I don't know about the others, but I'd like to know what that character on her hand is." said Mitsukake, "I traveled with Miaka and the others back then, and not once have I seen such strange magic, not even from Nakago."

Mitsukake, Nuriko, Chiriko, Hotohori, and Chichiri looked to Taiitsukun. Miaka, Taka, and Tasuki looked at Kaiya in confusion.

"Very well." said Taiitsukun, "Kaiya has powers of her own. Powers that could be used for good, or evil. If her powers were to fall into the wrong hands, nothing could be done. On her right hand, is a character for 'Death' as you all know. But that character is a c-"

Kaiya quickly ran in front of Taiitsukun and put a finger to her own lips in a shushing manner.

"Please, please don't tell them." she begged.

Taiitsukun raised an eyebrow.

"Why ever not? This information is important. They need to know." Taiitsukun said sternly.

Kaiya's expression became emotionless once more.

"I just don't want them to worry. I mean, I don't even know you people, except for Miaka and Taka, and you guys want to look after me? It's just too much for me to ask. And Miaka and Taka are two of my best friends, I don't want to see them or any of you sad." she said.

Taiitsukun noticed the emptiness in her eyes and voice. The old woman closed her eyes and sighed.

"Very well, but you must tell them on your own, in time." she said.

Kaiya's eyes returned to normal and she smiled.

"Taiitsukun?" Mitsukake asked.

Kaiya turned around and stood beside Taiitsukun.

Taiitsukun coughed once into her hand.

"Yes. As I was saying... I am not completely sure what it is, right now. But rest assured, you will know in time." she answered, looking at Kaiya.

The warriors and priestess were not satisfied with the answer, but accepted it. The only one who still seemed to be curious, was Chichiri.

'What does she want to keep secret, no da? And why?' he thought.

Back in the real world...

The students of Jounan had all assembled in the school gym to hear the candidates' speeches for student council. On the stage, the staff seemed to have a small problem.

"Yui Hongo is not here..."

"Should we disqualify her?"

"Maybe we should..."

Shigyou stood at the curtain's sides, arms crossed over his chest and head hung low. He had a calm look on his face.

"We can't allow that, can we?" he said, "I'm right, aren't I? You'd disqualify a candidate just because they don't make a speech today?"

Shigyou looked up at the teacher.

"No democratic election I know works that way." he said.

The teacher sighed and walked through the curtains to the front of the stage.

"And up next, a keynote speech by the presidential candidate, from class 1-A, Ren Shigyou." he said and left the stage. In his place came Shigyou.

Excited cries from the students were shouted to Shigyou as he came on stage.

"Shigyou!"

"Cool!"

"You're the best!"

Shigyou stood in front of the microphone, waiting for it to quiet down.

"I shall be your new student council president." he announced.

Back in the book world...

Taiitsukun handed a small, round, pink stone to Taka.

Kaiya looked at the stone with an intent gaze.

'I think I've seen something like that before...' she thought.

The small stone glowed and began to dissolve in Taka's hand.

"I fought... Was wounded... All for Miaka's sake." he muttered as the stone fully dissolved, "How could I have forgotten THAT?"

"That one just now was my jewel, no da!" Chichiri said.

Kaiya stood silently, confused as hell about what was going on. She tugged lightly on Miaka's sleeve.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Miaka turned to Kaiya and began to explain.

"This is the world where I first met Taka in, although he was known as Tamahome back then. In order for him to go to our world, his memory was divided into seven stones." she said, then turned to Nuriko and the others with a happy smile, "So, if you return all of them to Taka, he'll get all of his memories back!"

Nuriko and the others looked at her with a sad expression on their faces.

"I'm sorry, Miaka, but we don't have the others." said Nuriko.

"Why?" Miaka asked, her smile fading.

"I'll explain why." Taiitsukun announced.

Back in the real world...

Shigyou was continuing his speech.

"Teachers try to control you, because they say, "That's the rule." Even physically punishing you, saying they're "Teaching you a lesson."" he said, "I'm sure you don't approve of that."

All around the gymnasium, teachers and students alike began to look like they've been hypnotized. Their pupils were small, and their eyes showed a bright pink color.

"All of you must desire to change the world to what you want it to be. But you've all given up hope of ever having that power." he continued, "From this moment forward, you shall be reborn."

Back in the book world...

"They have not been able to be reborn into the form they desire." said Taiitsukun.

'So those guys are actually dead...' Kaiya thought, 'No wonder they're so transparent and pale.'

"But, why? Why haven't Hotohori and the others been able to be reborn?" Miaka asked, worry in her voice.

"An evil demon's life force is interfering with it." Taiitsukun answered.

Shigyou...

"All that interferes with this shall be swept away. Listen to the voices deep within your hearts."

Taiitsukun...

"It is an evil submerged deep within peoples' hearts."

Kaiya's eyes began to grow blank.

'Deep within peoples' hearts...' Kaiya repeated in her thoughts.

"People awaken it and make it grow." Taiitsukun continued.

Chichiri furrowed his brows and looked to the ground.

"Pretty soon, it leads to conflict, no da." he said sadly.

Shigyou...

"I'm counting on the help from each and every one of you to help build a new era."

Taiitsukun...

"It does it by making people believe they'll achieve happiness by doing it."

Shigyou...

A faint, purple glow appeared in his eyes.

"Lend me your strength!"

Taiitsukun...

"Suzaku desires your help."

Chichiri looked at Kaiya through the corner of his eye. She had the same blank look as before when he was with her at the palace. Once again, he could not sense what was going on in the girl or... wasn't going on.

Shigyou...

"Now come with me..."

Taiitsukun...

"You must once again join forces!"

Both...

"For a new battle awaits!"

Book world...

"Miaka... Kaiya... To you and the Suzaku seven, I leave this task." said Taiitsukun.

"Taiitsukun... If we're unable to find the stones... what will happen?" Miaka asked, worried.

Taiitsukun closed her eyes, carefully focusing her thoughts before speaking.

"There are seven stones in all. If you do not find them all, it's still okay, but," she answered, and opened her eyes, "should the stones fall into the enemy's hands, disaster shall strike and Taka will disappear."

Taka's eyes became wide.

"I'll... disappear?" he repeated in a quiet whisper.

Behind the group, streams of purple light appeared from the mountains as soon as Taiitsukun had finished speaking. The lightsdisappeared and explosions followed after.

Everyone abruptly turned their attention to the loud rumbling.

"Huh? What the...?" Tasuki shouted.

"It's an earthquake!" Chiriko exclaimed.

"Here!" said Mitsukake.

Real world...

The students stood up and clapped, still appearing to be hypnotized.

Back in the book world...

Explosion after explosion came, followed by the fall of the mountains.

"Mt. Taikyoku...!" said Hotohori, disbelief in his eyes.

"Taiitsukun! What's happening?" Taka demanded, frantic.

Taiitsukun's face grew grave.

"This much... He's gathered this much power now...?" she muttered.

Suddenly, an explosion came from behind Taiitsukun. What shot up seemed to be a stream of energy. The energy's bright colors darkened Taiitsukun's figure, making her appear like nothing more than a silhouette.

Miaka took a step forward.

"Taiitsukun!" she shouted in worry. She began to run towards Taiitsukun, but was blocked off by another explosion.

"Miaka!" Taka shouted.

A large bulge of explosive energy appeared next to Miaka. She screamed as it exploded.

"Miaka!" Tasuki shouted and ran to her.

Kaiya stood calmly at the center of the explosions. Her eyes were wide, blank, and staring at the crumbling mountain before her. She suddenly felt a strange ache in her heart. Not the pain of the curse, but... something different... something sad. At that point, tears began to flow down her face.

Kaiya gently touched her cheeks and looked at her hand.

'Why am I crying...?' she wondered. She suddenly heard a voice.

_Because it is your fault... Your fault this is happening... From the moment you were born... you were destined to bring destruction..._

Kenji's face flashed through her mind. He appeared to be so happy and carefree. Then another flash entered her mind. It was Kenji again, but he was bloody and lifeless on the ground.

'It's my fault...' she thought and hung her head low.

A bulge of energy exploded in front of her.

Kaiya looked up, her eyes still blank, and took a step towards the explosion. She suddenly felt a hand around her left wrist and looked back.

She blinked and her eyes returned to normal. The one who had grabbed her was Chichiri. His brows were furrowed and his face showed worry. He held uphis straw hat.

Tama leapt off of Chichiri's shoulder and onto Kaiya's. He was shaking with fear.

Kaiya used her free hand to place a hand on his head, comforting him.

"Come on!" Chichiri shouted and threw his hat up into the air. A crimson light came out of it and Kaiya felt herself disappear.

Just as the last of her vanished, an explosion happened exactly where she was.

In the real world...

Shigyou stood in front of the audience with a smug smile on his face. In his mind, he began to laugh evilly.

Elsewhere...

A man in darkness grinned. This time, his body was in shadows but his head was visible. He appeared to be sitting in an armchair. Between his thumb and index finger, he held a small, glowing, round, purple object. He looked down at it and his grin became wider.

"This will be fun..." he muttered. He loosened the pressure on the stone and it began to dull into a black color, blending in with the shadows.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: YAY! I'm done! I probably could have added this to the beginning... but then it would be thirty pages of writing. Remember, I'm alternating updates between my two stories. Hope you liked it.


	3. Chapter 3

Author Notes: Wow. Not bad. Only about aweek after I wrote my chapter for 'It's Time to Change'. Now if I just continued writing chapters all day, I'd finish this story soon. But don't expect me to update this quickly again in a long time. Anyway, I missed a bit of stuff in the first episode of the OVA that they only showed... er... said in the second episode, so I added a small bit more to the last chapter. Kaiya doesn't have a very big role in this chapter, but she will in the next few, I hope. Anyway, on with the chapter!  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
It was a beautiful day in the empire of Konan. Not too far from the capital was a large forest where Lake Taichi resided. Patches of sunlight shone through the trees, decorating the ground. Insect sounds and birdsong resonated throughout the forest, creating a peaceful ambiance. Unfortunately, that ambiance was ruined when a bright, red light burst forth above the trees, followed by a scream, causing the animals to flee.

Kaiya materialized inside the center of the light. She opened her eyes to see where she was. She found herself staring at a vast space of mountains, the tops of trees, and big blue sky. She moved her legs to try to stand on something, but could not find anything to stand on. She looked down. Her eyes became wide and fear filled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Am I flying?" she said aloud. Her answer came after a few seconds when she found herself falling. She shut her eyes tightly and screamed.

As she fell, branch after branch snapped, breaking her fall. All of a sudden, she felt herself stop.

Kaiya opened her eyes. For some strange reason, the ground was on top, while the middle of the trees (trunk and a bit of foliage) were on the top. Kaiya suddenly felt her skirt go "up." She looked... down, thinking someone was lifting her skirt, but saw that she had been caught in some of the tree's branches. It wasn't that everything was standing the wrong way; it was just that she was hanging upside down. Kaiya immediately blushed and pushed her skirt down with both hands in a desperate attempt to cover her panties and legs.

"Somebody, help me down!" she shouted. Suddenly, she heard a small chuckle.

"You sure are loud, no da."

'No da? It must be...' she thought, then looked in the direction she heard the voice from.

Chichiri came out of the bushes by Kaiya's right, perfectly unharmed and unaffected in anyway by the strange materialization in a completely different place.

"Looks like I need to work on my teleporting skills, no da." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Chichiri!" she said happily, relieved to see somebody she knew to help her down, "Could you please help me down?"

"Sure, no da." he answered. He walked over to the tree on Kaiya's left and leaned his staff against it. He then walked over to Kaiya and held out his arms.

"Gimme an arm, no da." he said.

Kaiya nodded. With one hand holding her skirt, she used the other to reach for Chichiri. He clasped his hands on her arm and began to pull. Kaiya fell a bit, but quickly became stuck again.

"Oh no... I'm stuck again." she said.

"I'll pull harder, no da!" Chichiri replied and began to tug on her arm harder.

"Wait! Wait! If you pull harder, it'll- Aaahhh!" she cried as Chichiri gave a hard pull, causing her to fall down from the trees and crashing into him, sending the two falling over.

Kaiya opened her eyes and looked up at Chichiri. Chichiri had his head hung back and swirls on his eyes.

"Daaa..." he said.

Realizing the current position they were in, and that anybody could jump to conclusions if they saw it, Kaiya pushed herself off of him and kneeled beside him. She leaned over him, a very worried expression on her face.

"Chichiri! Chichiri! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" she asked.

Chichiri sat up and rubbed his head.

"I'm alright." he reassured her, "No harm done, no da."

Kaiya breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled.

"I'm glad." she said.

Suddenly, they heard a loud splashing sound near by.

"Come on! That might be the others!" Kaiya said worriedly. She stood up and offered a hand to Chichiri.

Chichiri accepted her hand and stood up. He walked over to his staff, picked it up, and briskly walked in the direction the sound came from, with Kaiya close behind.

As they neared the area, they spotted a lake and two people in it.

Chichiri stopped and knelt behind some bushes. Kaiya stopped as well, wondering why.

"Chichiri, why are we-" she started, but was cut off by a shush from him.

She watched a mischievous smile appear on his face. She turned her head to look at what he was looking at to see Tasuki with his mouth over Miaka's, who was unconscious.

"He's just giving her mouth to mouth resuscitation, Chichiri." she said and turned her head back to him, but found that he was no longer beside her. She turned her body around, thinking he might have went back for something. She looked from side to side. "Chichiri?"

A scream in the air brought her attention back to the lake.

"Dammit, Chichiri! Don't scare me like that!" Tasuki shouted.

Tasuki was still in the water, but Chichiri had gone over and pulled Miaka out. She now lay resting in his arms.

Kaiya noticed that his mischievous smile was gone, replaced by the regular smile. She came out of the bushes and ran over to them.

"Is she alright?" she asked Chichiri, and received a nod in reply.

Miaka's eyes fluttered open.

"Oh... Chichiri..." she said weakly.

"We're safe now, no da." he said.

Kaiya knelt down beside Miaka.

"Thank goodness you're alright, Miaka." she said.

Miaka looked at her and smile.

"You too." she said.

"Miaka!"

Everyone turned to the direction of the voice to find Taka running towards them.

Miaka stood up and so did Kaiya.

"Taka!" she said happily.

"Miaka! Kaiya! Guys! Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Taka ran up to Miaka and hugged her, then pulled back to see if she was hurt.

"I'm okay." Miaka replied.

"Us too, no da." said Chichiri.

"Me too." said Kaiya.

"Where are the others?" Taka asked Chichiri.

"Scattered around a bit, but okay, no da." Chichiri answered, "Taiitsukun used her holy power to fly us outta there, no da."

"From inside that explosion..." Taka whispered.

Chichiri creased his brow.

" Mt. Taikyoku's covered by dark clouds and looks terribly different now, no da." he said.

"So, where are we now?" Taka asked.

" Lake Taichi, in Konan." Chichiri answered.

Miaka stared off in to the lake, Taiitsukun's words echoing in her mind.

_Miaka... Kaiya... To you and the Suzaku seven, I leave this task..._

Miaka thought of where they should go first and turned back to them, her mind filled with determination.

"Let's get to the palace." she said, "First of all, we have to find those jewels. We can't let some demon beat us!"

Kaiya looked at Miaka, admiring her courage and determination.

"Miaka..." Taka whispered.

Chichiri's face brightened.

"Well said! You're right, no da." he said, then turned to Tasuki, who was still in the water, "Tasuki!"

Tasuki raised a fist of determination from under the water.

"Right! Leave this to me!" he said, "We won't solve anything just standing around here."

Chichiri raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, Tasuki?" he asked, "Since when have you been able to swim, no da?"

Tasuki's fist of determination fell apart and an expression of sudden realization dawned on him. He instantly sank into the water.

Kaiya smiled happily at Chichiri's joke.

In the corner of her eye, Miaka saw Kaiya's happy smile.

'Looks like she's getting over Kenji's death.' she thought and smiled.

In the real world...

It was sunset and the results of the student council election had been posted. Shigyou was made president and Yui was made vice-president.

Shigyou stared blankly out of the window, his hands in his pockets. Yui was leaning against a chalkboard to his right, eyeing him suspiciously, her arms crossed. They were the only two students left in the school.

"Was this your doing?" she asked him, having just seen the results of the election.

"Whatever do you mean?" Shigyou asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Yui narrowed her eyes.

"Don't play dumb. Why'd you make me vice-president?" she asked.

"But you were running for it, weren't you?" he replied. It was not at all the answer she wanted.

Yui uncrossed her arms and pushed herself off the board.

"I see. Asking you is pointless, isn't it?" she said and started walking to the door of the classroom.

"Miss Hongo..." said Shigyou.

Yui stopped and looked back at him.

"It's getting dark. Why don't I walk you home?" he said.

Yui ignored his offer and turned back.

"Goodbye." she said and began walking again.

Shigyou turned to watch her leave, an evil gleam in his eyes and mischievous smile on his face.

Yui walked down the first set of stairs and turned to go down the next. Suddenly, the window behind her burst apart, sending glass shards everywhere. She leaned against the rail, shards of glass sticking out of her, injured badly. A cold, sarcastic voice began speaking from the first set of stairs.

"That was a close one!"

Yui didn't need to look up to know it was Shigyou.

Shigyou walked down the stairs, a calm expression on his face.

"Not hurt are you?" he said, still walking, "Please, be careful."

Shigyou rounded the corner and began going down the second stairs.

"Wouldn't want you to be devoured by a blue dragon again, would we?" he said.

Yui's head jerked up and stared at him. Her eyes were wide with shock.

"How did you...? You...!" she shouted, "Who are you?"

Shigyou turned his head to look back at her, a smug smile on his face.

"I'll tell you. My name is Renhou." he said. A bright light began glowing around Shigyou. His clothes changed to ones like in ancient China, and the hair at the nape of his neck grew to a ponytail. His clothes were an aqua blue tunic with yellow trimming, and beige pants. "And your friend is my enemy."

Yui's vision began to blur and blacken.

"M-Miaka..." she whispered before fainting.

Back in the book world...

Kaiya and the others appeared within the palace, thanks to Chichiri's magic. They were under the roof of one of the palace's outstretched walked ways, beside a pond.

"We're here, no da!" said Chichiri.

Miaka's face lit up with happiness at the scene of the large palace in front of her. The palace brought back so many good memories to her.

Kaiya looked around in awe at the palace. The walls appeared to be made of clay, and they were topped off with bright, orange colored roofs. The roofs tiles looked to be made of cut bamboo shoots. Along the sides of the palace were walkways. Red columns stood on the outer edges of the walkways to help support the roofs. Like the outstretched walkway she stood on, there were a couple others within an eye's view that also stretched out into the palace's fields.

"Damn, it's been too long!" Tasuki said, happy to see the palace as well.

"It hasn't changed a bit!" said Miaka.

"The war two years ago is becoming ancient history to the people here, no da." said Chichiri.

"Holy...! It looks just like ancient China!" Taka exclaimed, awing at the sight.

"Jeez. Same old amateurish shock reactions..." Tasuki muttered.

Kaiya and Taka glared daggers at him. Sweat drops appeared on Tasuki, and he began to slowly back away.

Chichiri watched with amusement.

'Kaiya sure is strange.' he thought and remembered her strange behavior back on Mt. Taikyoku. Looking at her now, it seemed like nothing had happened at all.

"Miaka!"

Everyone turned to see a girl flying towards them, across the pond. Her hair was a pale turquoise, braided in pigtails with golden globes at the ends. Her yellow and white robes, bound at the waist with a pink sash, swayed as she flew.

"Nyan Nyan!" Miaka cried happily.

Taka's eyes practically popped out of their sockets.

"She... She's flying!" he said.

"You're alright!" said Nyan Nyan.

Nyan Nyan flew into Miaka's arms, and they embraced each other.

"You're alright, too, Nyan Nyan!" Miaka said, relieved, "I didn't see you at Mt. Taikyoku, so I was worried!"

Taka pointed a shaky finger at Nyan Nyan.

"Wha... What is that?" he asked.

Tasuki smiled at his reaction.

"This is really annoyin'." he said, half joking, half serious, "Can't ya get some of your memory back? I can't explain everything to ya."

"Oh, Lord Chichiri!"

Everyone turned to their left to see a small group of men. One wearing robes, and the other two wearing armor.

"Lord Tamahome! Oh, even the Priestess of Suzaku!" the man at the front said. His eyes gleamed with happiness.

"Prime minister!" Chichiri acknowledged happily. "It's been so long, no da!"

The prime minister and the soldiers ran to Miaka and the others, resulting in a long sequence of talking. From the priestess to the warriors, joyous greetings and small conversations were exchanged.

Kaiya stood beside Tasuki, the only two who didn't seem to be noticed. They watched as the others talked.

Finally noticing them, the prime minister turned to them.

"Oh, Lord Tasuki's here!" he said.

Tasuki glared at him.

"'Course I am." he muttered, annoyed.

The prime minister turned to Kaiya.

"Oh? And who is this?" he asked.

Miaka turned and walked to Kaiya's side.

"This is Kaiya. She's a friend of mine from my world." she said.

Kaiya clasped her hands together and bowed.

"Nice to meet you." she said politely.

The prime minister smiled at the girl.

"Please, please, come inside. You all must be famished." he said and gestured everyone to go into the palace. "You must tell what has been happening in your lives."

The prime minister led them to an eating room. There were chairs and plates of food for everyone. Decorative lanterns (unlit) hung on the ceiling and orange curtains (drawn back) decorated the walls. The walls were a paler shade of orange and had outlines of large green rectangles on them. Everyone sat down and Miaka told their story to him.

Finally finished explaining, Miaka sat back in her chair.

"Stones, you say?" the prime minister asked, "Jewels that restore memory?"

"That's right, sir. And we have no idea how to find them." Miaka said.

"I will inform my staff and begin an organized search immediately." the minister said and turned to one of his attendants, "Attendant!"

"Right away, sir." the attendant answered and rushed off.

The prime minister turned back and faced Chichiri.

"In any case, Lord Chichiri, if it wouldn't be too inconvenient, can I convince you to stay for a while?" he asked.

"Here? You mean you want me to stay here, in the palace?" Chichiri asked, sounding a little surprised.

"Yes." the prime minister answered, "We have been working our hardest to rebuild the nation ever since the war ended. But one injury still saps the strength of our people and discourages them."

"The death of his majesty..." Chichiri said sadly.

Kaiya looked over at Chichiri, noticing the tone of his speech.

'What happened to the 'no da's?' she wondered.

"Konan still lacks a leader who could be a preach to the future." said the prime minister.

"What about Lady Houki, the woman he married who looked like Nuriko?" Chichiri asked.

The prime minister lowered his head.

"Yes.. Well, after giving birth to the crown prince, the empress fell ill and hasn't spoken a word for a year and a half." he explained gravely, "I believe her spirit is broken."

"A year and a half?" Miaka repeated, shocked. She stood up, palms braced on the table, "Minister, where is Lady Houki? Please, won't you let us visit her? Won't you?"

The prime minister looked up at Miaka, the slightest bit of hope shone within his trembling eyes.

"Yes, priestess." he said and closed his eyes, "That might be just what she needs."

"But before that," Miaka said and looked down at the food, "can we... eat this food?"

Large sweat drops appeared on everyone's head, Kaiya covered her laughter at the seriousness in which she had used to speak.

"She's like this everywhere, isn't she?" she said, a large smile on her face.

"You wouldn't believe how much I spend going to a restaurant with her." Taka replied jokingly.

Miaka stopped licking her plate for a second to look at them, a question mark above her head.

Chichiri watched Kaiya in the corner of his eye; the reason unknown even to himself. He watched her hold in another laugh, her shoulders shaking, and a small smile appeared on his face.

"You should laugh more, no da." he said to Kaiya, "You being sad doesn't seem to suit you, no da."

Kaiya faced Chichiri and smiled.

"Well, when does a sad face ever suit anybody?" she replied.

As soon as Miaka had finished her plates, as well as some of the others', the prime minister led them to where Lady Houki was.

"She's in here." the prime minister said, stopping in front of a room.

"Houki?" Miaka whispered, then opened the door to peek in. She widened her eyes and made a small gasp when she saw Hotohori at Houki's bedside, trying to comfort his ill stricken wife. "Hotohori..."

Miaka widened the door so everyone could see what was happening.

Everyone was at a loss of words. Kaiya wanted to think of a way to lighten the mood, at least a bit, but couldn't think of anything. She wanted to help Hotohori, whom she knew now was the emperor. She balled her hands into fists and furrowed her brow.

"I can't comfort her..." Hotohori said sadly, withdrawing his hand from Lady Houki, "She doesn't feel it..."

"Heart broken..." Nyan Nyan said, knowing very well why the empress was ill, "She couldn't stand the grief of losing his highness. She loved him so very, very deeply."

At Nyan Nyan's words, Kaiya's eyes grew blank. She unballed her fists and unfurrowed her brows, just watching now.

Hotohori gazed down at Houki, feelings of regret raking at his heart.

"Houki..." he whispered and closed his eyes, "Forgive me."

The door closed and everyone walked away from the doors.

"I think we should leave them alone for now, no da." said Chichiri.

"So this is where his highness ended up." said Tasuki.

"It was Taiitsukun's powers." Nyan Nyan explained, "The other warriors were sent to different places."

"Good, that's a relief." said Miaka.

"Oh well, we better find those rocks for this loser." Tasuki said, turning his head to Taka.

"Sorry, guys." Taka apologized.

Miaka turned her head to Chichiri.

"Chichiri, can't you sense where they are?" she asked.

Everyone started walking down the hall. Chichiri sighed.

"I'm afraid I can't use any of my powers for this particular venture, no da." he answered.

"Ah, then we're gonna have to search one room at a time." Tasuki said.

"No! You mustn't go that way!"

Suddenly hearing the pitter patter of running feet, Tasuki turned his head to the front of him, the direction of which he heard the sound coming from.

Suddenly, something solid crashed into his leg. Tasuki shouted into the air, tears streaming down his face. His leg felt like it had broken a bone.

Kaiya's eyes returned to normal. Her face brightened greatly at the adorable little child that had just come.

Tasuki glared angrily at the child that had crashed into him, his fangs bared.

"Why you...!" he snarled, then knelt down and grabbed the kid by the collar of his robes, "You little rock headed brat!"

The child's caretaker had finally caught up with the child.

"Oh, Prince Boushin!" he said.

Tasuki blinked. He immediately released the child and patted his head, a forced, happy expression on his face.

"You cute little devil!" he said aloud, then muttered to the prince, "And don't tell your father I said that, okay?"

"He's a prince, then that means..." Miaka said and trailed off.

"This is his majesty's son, no da!" Chichiri finished for her.

Kaiya and Miaka took in the prince's appearance. He looked very young. He had a bald head with a small patch of light brown hair just above his forehead. He had beautiful goldish-brown eyes, just like his father's. He wore a lemon colored robe with a coral colored outer lining and a canary yellow inner lining. In his hands he held a brown teddy bear with aqua blue eyes, and a red and brown checkered bowtie.

Miaka's face broke into a very large smile.

"Really?" she said excitedly.

"Sure is cute." said Taka.

Kaiya bent down on her knees to get a closer look at the prince. She clasped her hands together and tilted her head to the side.

"He's absolutely adorable!" she squealed.

"So he's Hotohori and Houki's son!" Miaka exclaimed.

"Come, your highness." Boushin's caretaker said, motioning the boy to follow, "Why don't we go back to your room? I promise no one will try to take away your doll again."

Miaka bent down on her knees and smiled at Boushin.

"I was the one who gave that doll to your daddy a long time ago, before you were born." she said, pointing at the bear.

Boushin turned away, clutching the bear tighter.

"Don't worry, I won't take it away." Miaka said.

"What's your name, little guy?" Kaiya asked.

Boushin didn't answer. Tasuki walked up to her side and whispered to them both, eyes glaring and a hand cupped to his mouth.

"See? Ya wanna smack 'im, right?" he said.

Kaiya and Miaka smiled nervously, sweat drops prominent.

"Lady Kaiya, and Lady Priestess, " the prime minister said, his face as sad as his voice was grave, "I'm afraid it's of no use. Prince Boushin has never spoken one word in his life."

Miaka, Kaiya, and Tasuki turned their heads to face the minister. Boushin began to stroke his bear's head, ignoring the people around him.

The prime minister continued.

"It's just like it is with his mother, and so his mouth and heart have been sealed." he said, "He seems to understand what you say, but he won't speak to us."

"What're you saying?"

Miaka and Kaiya backed away quickly, nearly having a heart attack from the sudden shout from Hotohori.

"Hotohori, don't pop out so sharp like that!" Miaka shouted at him.

Hotohori leaned in closer to his son, his face's features softening.

Boushin looked from side to side, as if seeking something that had just spoken to him.

"It's me. Can't you see me?" Hotohori said softly, "He looks like me as an infant; the warm intelligence, the obvious wit, regal grace, and strength of character."

Everyone groaned, except for Kaiya and Taka who were staring in disbelief.

"Give me a break." - Tasuki

"Come on!" - Chichiri

"What a narcissist..." - Nyan Nyan

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" - Miaka.

Suddenly, Nyan Nyan sensed a dark presence coming from the prince's doll. She jumped into the air and flew back.

"Everyone, get away from that doll!" she shouted.

Everyone whirled around to look at Nyan Nyan. But before they could comprehend what she had said, the head of the bear ripped open ad a bright purple light sprouted forth. Purple octopus-like tentacles bust out of the bear, wrapped themselves around everyone, and hoisted them into the air.

"What... is this thing?" Kaiya shouted, struggling to break free.

"It's some kind of tentacle monster, no da!" It's coming from the prince's doll!" Chichiri answered, struggling as much as she was.

Boushin's eyes were wide, staring at the base of the tentacles. His grip around the bear was still tight.

Taka looked over at Miaka, desperate to save her.

"Miaka!" he shouted.

Miaka squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth. She opened her eyes to look at Boushin.

"Oh, please... Stop this, Prince Boushin!" she gasped. The tentacles around her tightened and she screamed. She felt like every bone in her body was being crushed.

"Your highness... Please let go of the bear doll now." the prime minister begged the prince.

"Can't... use my power...!" Nyan Nyan gasped.

"Me either!.. Ugh!" Chichiri replied and looked at Boushin, "I can't use my powers without hitting the prince, no da!"

"I can't... I can't use my fire either!" said Tasuki.

The monster's two heads growled and lunged at Boushin, ready to devour him.

"Boushin!" Hotohori cried and raced towards his son. He entered Boushin's body just as the monster reached him. Hotohori had lept into the air and the monster followed him.

Using his powers, Hotohori (Boushin) materialized his sword into his hands. The sword's blade began to glow red.

"Your highness!" Tasuki shouted.

"He's... possessed... him!" Chichiri shouted.

Hotohori lunged at the monster's body with his sword and pierced it.

The tentacles turned black, then dispersed, dropping everyone to the ground.

Seeing Miaka falling, Tasuki dived under her, lightening her fall by letting her fall on him.

Miaka blinked, then looked down at him.

"Oh, Tasuki! Thank you!" she said gratefully.

Tasuki stared at the ground.

"Yeah, sure." he said, "What else was I gonna do? Now get off, yer' heavy."

"Sorry." Miaka said nervously, and got off of him.

Kaiya dusted herself off and looked around at everyone.

"Is everyone alright?" she asked. Everyone nodded in reply. She breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

Chichiri walked over to Miaka, a mischievous expression on his face.

"Tasuki has been going out of his way to save you on this trip, no da." he said and raised a finger to emphasize what he was saying, "And I saw him kiss you on the mouth back at the lake, no da."

Miaka perked her head up at Chichiri.

"Hm?" she said.

Tasuki quickly stood up and loomed angrily over the conniving warrior.

"It's called mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, ya dummy!" he snapped.

Kaiya grinned at Tasuki.

"Well, we're safe, your highness, thanks to you." said Taka.

"Yes..." Hotohori said slowly, staring in awe at the fact that he could possess a body, "The monster has been destroyed with the holy sword. I am a bit... bewildered and shocked that I am able to do this."

Miaka smiled at the little emperor.

"I'm not surprised, Hotohori! Any great father would do the same!" she said.

Realizing something, Hotohori's eyes widened. He quickly turned and ran down the hall.

Miaka reached a hand out to him.

"Hotohori, where're you going?" she called after him.

The sound of running feet echoed through the hall, awakening Lady Houki. The doors swung open and Hotohori came running in.

"Houki!" he shouted, distress written on his face.

Houki sat up, her eyes wide. Her mind tried to grasp the fact that her son was now speaking, and in a voice very much like her husband's.

"Boushin..." she said.

"Houki..." Hotohori said softly, his eyes trembling, "Can't you see? It is me!"

Realizing just exactly who was speaking to her, Houki's eyes softened and began to fill with tears. She felt a happiness that could never be explained in words.

"Highness?" she whispered. She leaped out of her bed and ran to Hotohori, embraced in his warm arms once more.

"Houki..." Hotohori said, happiest he had felt in a long time.

"Highness, it really is you." Houki said.

Hotohori stared forward, brows creased, and guilt-ridden.

"Yes, Houki... and it is my fault for leaving you and our son behind, and burdening you with grief." he said, "I am so sorry. Please forgive me."

Kaiya and the others watched the joyous moment between the two from the doorway.

Tears ran down Houki's cheeks. She held Boushin (Hotohori) close to her, never wanting to be apart from him again.

After Hotohori was warmly welcomed back, everyone entered the room, and explained their situation.

"Jewel of memory?" Houki repeated.

"Yes, that's right." Miaka replied, "Without them, Taka- I mean, Tamahome, will cease to exist!"

Houki thought for a moment. She remembered something and relayed it to everyone.

"Come to think of it, I always thought it was only an illusion." she said.

"You thought what was only an illusion?" Miaka asked.

"It was just before I gave birth to my son. I saw a light blue stone appear before me. Somehow, it gently entered my womb." Houki explained, "I remember how warm it was. Just after that, when our son was born, the warmth passed out of me. But I thought it was an illusion, brought on by my labor."

Chichiri's brow was furrowed in deep thought.

"So, it's with the prince then..." he said.

Miaka realized what he meant.

"Do you mean the jewel is inside him?" she asked.

Tasuki burst into the room and grabbed Boushin (Hotohori) by the legs and began to shake him up and down.

"Alright, leave this operation ta' me! Come on, spit it out, now!" he shouted, then turned to Chichiri, "Chichiri, hit 'im on the head! As long as his highness possesses the child, he should be alright!"

Chichiri stood beside Tasuki in ready position, his staff ready at hand. He nodded in reply.

"Yeah, right!" he agreed.

Breaking free of Tasuki's grips, Hotohori landed on the floor. He leaped into the air and kicked Tasuki in the face. Tasuki was sent flying with a bloody nose.

"What do you think you are doing to my son?" Hotohori shouted angrily, "Chichiri, how can you agree with such an asinine plan?"

Kaiya blinked, shocked at the three's behavior. Miaka watched them with a nervous grin and large sweat drop. Tamahome crawled up into his chair with bugged out eyes as he was confronted by the emperor.

"And what did I ever to do you, Tamahome, to make you put a stone in my son?" the emperor shouted, exasperated.

"But I didn't put it in 'im! I don't even know how!" Taka protested.

Hotohori moved from fighting Tamahome, back to Tasuki. Tamahome ran over to Miaka and hugged her legs, terrified of Hotohori.

"Excuse me, everyone!"

Everyone turned to the door to see a maid enter with a platter of food.

"Excuse me!" she shouted, getting the emperor's attention. "I've come to give the prince his food."

Hotohori decided to stop the disfiguring of Tasuki's face for the time being.

"Alright, we will have to discuss this later. It is far more important that Prince Boushin be nourished now." he said, then left Boushin's body. "Eat well, my son, and grow up to be a healthy and contented ruler of men."

The maid walked over to the table and put the platter down.

"Come here, your highness, so that I may feed you." she said.

Boushin began walking towards the maid.

From underneath the platter, the maid pulled out a hidden dagger.

Seeing this, Chichiri rushed the prince's side, shielding him, but injuring himself in the process.

"It's another monster, no da! She's not a real human being!" he shouted and backed away from the fake maid with Boushin. He handed the prince over to Houki.

The maid's eyes darted from person to person, scanning over them, and brandishing the weapon in front of her.

Kaiya watched Tasuki ran up and pull out a fan. His eyes were narrowed in anger.

"One after another, they come up ta' bother us. Outta the way, Tamahome." he said, then waved the fan at the fake maid, "Rekka Shien!"

To Kaiya's surprise, fire spewed from the fan, and at the imposter. A loud, monster-like scream was heard.

"Is it gone?" Taka asked eagerly.

Nyan Nyan flew past them, towards the monster.

"Not quite!" she said.

As the flames dispersed, a one-eyed purple monster came out. Its body looked very much like a slug with claws.

Placing a palm over her fist, Nyan Nyan concentrated her power into her hands.

"San... Zen... Ha!" she shouted. Her palms opened and white balls of energy were shot at the monster.

The monster screamed in pain, green blood spurting from its wounds.

Nyan Nyan flew back and landed by Chichiri.

"This thing's tough!" she said.

Hotohori stepped forward.

"I'll handle this!" he said. His holy sword cast a red glow. Grasping it once more, he ran at the monster, cutting through it.

"This stops here." he hissed angrily, his back towards the monster, "I will not let you hurt my son! Now, be gone!"

The monster screamed once more, and dispersed.

Chichiri relaxed, but the pain in his arm reminded him of his injury. He winced and kneeled on the floor, clutching his arm. Kaiya noticed from the corner of her eye and quickly rushed over and kneeled beside him.

"Chichiri, you're hurt!" she said worriedly.

"It's just a mortal wound. It'll heal, no da." he replied, trying to ease her worry.

"Hold on." she said. Gripping her skirt, she ripped the edge off and wrapped it around his arm. She finished wrapping and tied it with a little bow. She leaned back and smiled. "I hope it stops the bleeding. Sorry I can't do much more than that."

Chichiri shook his head.

"It's fine, no da. It'll definitely help." he said, "Thank you for your help, no da."

Houki gazed at the spot where the monster had been, relieved that it had been defeated. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp when Hotohori's form began to materialize in front of her. Tears fell from her eyes.

"Your majesty." she whispered.

Hotohori's eyes widened at his title and he turned to face Houki.

"Houki..." said softly, "Can you... Can you see me?"

"Yes, I can see you!" she answered.

Boushin stared at Hotohori, a smile on his face.

"Pa... pa!" he said quietly, but not loud enough for anybody to hear. He reached his arms out to Hotohori.

"You see him, too, don't you, Boushin?" Houki said, "You know who he is?"

Houki placed her child on the ground.

"My son," she said, "that brave man is your father."

Boushin smiled happily and began walking towards Hotohori, arms outstretched.

Hotohori stared joyously at his son.

"Boushin, my beautiful son," he whispered, then knelt down onto one knee and held his arms out to Boushin, "come here..."

Boushin ran the last few steps to his father, eagerly awaiting those arms to wrap lovingly around him. But just as he reached Hotohori, instead of feeling the soft flesh of his hands, he ran through Hotohori.

Hotohori's eyes widened, remembering he was a ghost and that he could not touch anything of the living.

Boushin tripped on the floor and fell to his knees. He blinked, and slowly began to cry, wailing in the air.

Everyone watched, shocked, and sad, realizing the same thing Hotohori did. Kaiya hugged her knees and her eyes grew blank once more.

Hotohori's eyes trembled with sadness. Tears threatened to fill his eyes and fall. He raised a handle and covered his mouth.

Houki closed her eyes and turned her head away, a hand also covering her mouth.

Boushin's wails continued to fill the room.

Hotohori squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears from coming.

"Come into me."

Hotohori opened his eyes, recognizing the voice as Tamahome's.

"Use my body, please." Taka said.

Hotohori turned to face Taka.

"You can because, unlike everyone else here, I'm only using about half of my memories." Taka said, and smiled, "So there's plenty of room to spare, you see? Heh heh..."

Hotohori's face brightened at the kind gesture.

"Tamahome..." he said, "I am forever in your debt."

Boushin continued to cry, tears going down his face in what seemed like rivers. He suddenly felt soft hands lift him up and stopped crying.

"Boushin..." Taka (Hotohori) whispered. He turned Boushin about so that he was spooning him. He gently pressed him against his chest in a loving embrace. "My son, forgive me. I've been a terrible father. I cannot be here with you or your mother. But you are both forever with me in my heart."

Hotohori pulled his son back and raised him so that they were face to face.

"Grow up quickly and well, my son. Become a strong and noble man, and then as much as I did- no, more than I was able to, love your subjects. Become a great leader who will build a world of peace, and protect your mother, as a responsible, beloved son should. I know you will." he said, then brought him down again in another embrace, "You are... my most precious treasure."

"Papa..."

Hotohori's eyes widened and a small gasp escaped his mouth. Houki did the same.

"Boushin...!" she whispered.

Kaiya's eyes returned to normal. Her eyes softened at the happiness she felt for the emperor. Miaka, Nyan Nyan, and Chichiri watched as fell, feeling just as happy as she did for the emperor. Tasuki on the other hand, had his back turned and was bawling his eyes out.

"Boushin..." said Hotohori, "What did you just... What did you say?"

Boushin looked up happily at Taka, knowing that it was his father who he was speaking through him.

"Pa... pa!" he repeated.

Hotohori's eyes narrowed, fighting back the tears in his eyes, and brows trembling.

"Boushin...!" he muttered.

Boushin reached a hand up and touched his father's cheek.

"Papa?" Boushin said.

Hotohori gently held Boushin's hand, and closed his eyes, allowing the tears to stream down his face.

"My son..." he whispered.

"Papa! Papa!" Boushin said happily.

Suddenly, a light blue stone appeared before Taka.

"What's that?" he asked aloud, but realized the answer himself, "The jewel of memory... from inside this boy."

The jewel entered Taka, presenting him with the memories of Hotohori.

"What's this?" he whispered.

"You must know, Tamahome..." said Hotohori, "Even the power of kodoku was no match for the love you and Miaka share. The strength with which you protect Miaka comes from your abiding love for her, and your gentleness."

Taka gave Boushin back to Houki and Hotohori left his body to sit on her bedside.

"Thank you, for lending me your body." said Hotohori.

"Yes, your highness." Taka replied. He turned his head to smile at Miaka, and she smiled back.

"Isn't it great, Taka? We got the third jewel." Miaka said.

"Yeah." Taka replied, "And I remember the time you almost died, Miaka."

From the corners of his eyes, Tasuki watched them with a bit of jealousy. He closed his eyes and looked away. Kaiya noticed this from the corner of her eyes and raised her eyebrows. Suddenly, a bright red light surrounded her.

"Hey! What's this?" she exclaimed and stood up.

Chichiri and Tasuki looked at her, just as surprised. Then, the same red light shone again, but in front of them. They turned back to see that Miaka and Taka had also been surrounded by the red light.

"What now?" Tasuki asked.

"Suzaku!" Chichiri answered, "They've been surrounded by the power of Suzaku, no da!"

"They're going back... to the other world!" Tasuki concluded.

Miaka turned to face everyone.

"Listen!" she said, "I promise we'll be back! We'll find the fourth jewel! I promise!"

"I'll be back too!" said Kaiya, "I want to help as much as possible! So you can expect me to come back!"

With that, Miaka, Kaiya, and Taka disappeared with the light.

Chichiri glanced at the bandage on his arm, mysterious emotions playing at his heart.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: Considering that the original OVA was only six episodes, I decided to speed up Chichiri and Kaiya's relationship. There was barely any in this chapter, but hey, better than nothing. Do you guys think I'm moving too fast? I'm not sure if I am or if I'm not. I used the episode for this chapter, as I will for the other chapters. I CRIED. It was such a touching episode. I used up a box of tissues. One of the best episodes of the series. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Author Notes: Alrighty. I have another chapter up! You guys are happy... right? RIGHT? Right. (sigh) Not long before this story is coming to a close. I'm sad yet happy. Summer vacation's almost ending too... Hope you like this chapter!  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Yui sat up in her bed. The red scroll on her desk was glowing, casting everything in a red light. She stared at it, realizing what it meant.

"Miaka and Taka... They're coming back here." she whispered.

Much to Yui's surprise, three people began to materialize in her room instead of two.

"Kaiya? Why were you in the Universe of the Four Gods with Miaka and..." Yui asked. As she was saying Miaka's name, she had looked over to her to find her and Taka kissing. "Taka... Better call Keisuke."

Yui sighed and picked up the phone. She dialed Miaka's home number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello? Keisuke? Mmhmm. They both seem to be fine. Neither one's injured." she said, then glared teasingly at the couple, "They were both just makin' out in front of me."

Miaka and Taka quickly pulled away from each other, having just realized they had appeared in Yui's room.

Yui continued her conversation on the phone.

"They don't change." she said jokingly, "One more thing, Keisuke. Kaiya was with them in the other world... Dunno. Didn't really ask her yet... Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow. Bye."

Yui took the phone off her ear and put it beside her on the bed.

"Yui!" Miaka said.

"We came back to Yui's house?" Taka asked.

"How'd we get here?" Kaiya asked.

"I saw a red light at the north building." Yui answered, "Must have been you guys, right?"

"Yeah." Miaka replied.

"Thought so. I found that scroll there, too." Yui said, pointing at the red scroll on her desk.

Taking her gaze from the scroll, Miaka returned to Yui, and finally noticed the many bandages on her.

"Yui! How'd you get hurt?" Miaka asked worriedly.

Yui closed her eyes and frowned.

"Thanks for noticing, Miaka." she said sarcastically (at this point I couldn't tell whether she was serious or not), "It was terrible!"

Yui began to explain everything that happened in the school.

"Anyway, until we figure out who this Shigyou really is, you'd better not go to school, Miaka." Yui concluded.

"She's right, Miaka. You should stay home." Taka said, "I'll discuss it with Keisuke and Tetsuya tomorrow."

"And I'll bring your homework." Kaiya said jokingly with a large grin on her face.

Fake tears poured out of Miaka's eyes at the thought of homework she'd be assigned.

Yui stood up and walked everyone to the door. She waved goodbye as they all left for home. Miaka turned to wave goodbye, the red scroll in her hand.

"I'm home!" Kaiya called out as she closed the door to her home.

Kaiya's mother looked up from her seat on the couch in the living room, a concerned expression on her face.

"Where have you been? I was getting worried!" she said.

Kaiya smiled nervously and hid her hands behind her back, effectively hiding the bandages on her wrist.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was doing a big project as school." she lied, "I just lost track of time. I'm sorry."

Noticing the uneven edge of her skirt, Kaiya's mother looked down at it.

"What happened to your skirt?" she asked, brows creased with even more worry.

"I accidentally ripped it at school. I'll go fix it right now." Kaiya answered and walked up the stairs to her room.

Kaiya's mother decided to buy the excuse and resumed watching the tv in front of her.

Kaiya threw her bag to the ground and flopped down on her bed. She breathed in the sweet fragrance of her room, happy to be home again. But her happiness quickly faded as she brought up her right hand to look at the "death" character. She stared at it, not knowing what to think. She turned her attention to her wrists and unraveled the bandages around them, gazing at the scabbed flesh.

Kaiya sighed and pushed herself off the bed. She turned to look at her clock. It was exactly ten o'clock. She stuffed her bandages into her pocket, then grabbed her pajamas from her closet and changed into them. She then proceeded to fix her skirt. Afterwards, she began to do her homework. When she finally finished, she yawned and looked at the time. It was eleven fifty-nine. She yawned again and lifted the blankets to get into her bed.

But as she did, her eyes widened. She found she could not breath and her chest was in immense pain. She squeezed her eyes shut and dropped to her knees, clutching her chest.

As soon as the pain stopped, Kaiya opened an eye and breathed in some much needed air. A number and word flashed in her mind. It read five weeks and four days. She reached up her bed and leaned against it. She caught a quick glimpse of the time.

'It's midnight... Does that mean it will activate at the same time every day until...' she wondered, but didn't want to finish her train of thought. She crawled into her bed and under the blankets. But after her ordeal, sleep did not come to her .She was wide awake with fear, fear of death. She curled up into a ball and screwed her eyes shut, forcing herself not to think about it.

In the book world...

Chichiri, Hotohori, and Tasuki walked along a dirt road that meandered away from the capital. Grass hills and stones were the only things that surrounded the road as far as the eye could see. They had been walking for three days in search of Taka's memory jewel. Unfortunately, they had not been successful in finding the next stone.

Chichiri stopped suddenly, a quizzical look on his face. His brows came together in deep thought, trying to figure out what this uneasy feeling inside him was.

Tasuki and Hotohori stopped as well, looking at their companion in confusion.

"Is something the matter, Chichiri?" Hotohori asked.

Chichiri came out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the two in front of him. He shook his head.

"Just got a bad feeling about something, no da." he answered, "Probably just the journey ahead."

Tasuki smirked. He placed his hands on his hips and leaned forward.

"Never took ya fer' a chicken, Chichiri!" he teased, "Not gonna back out on us now, are ya?"

Chichiri scrunched his face up. He quickly gave Tasuki's head a whack with his staff.

"Ow!" Tasuki shouted, clutching his head.

"Of course I won't back out, no da! Tamahome's life is at stake here, no da!" Chichiri said and started walking.

Hotohori followed after and Tasuki after him, glaring angrily at the monk.

"Stupid, damn monk... Whackin' me on the head with 'is stupid staff..." Tasuki muttered.

"I heard that!" Chichiri shouted back and continued walking.

Tasuki abruptly stopped and leaned away in fear.

Hotohori turned his head to look back at Tasuki.

"You really should watch what you say, Tasuki." he whispered and continued walking.

Tasuki resumed walking, making sure to keep his distance from the monk.

Chichiri's thoughts came back to the bad feeling he had as he walked. He doubted this feeling was of the journey, but what it was, he just didn't know. He glanced down at the substitute bandage on his arm, thinking that might be what the feeling was about... Kaiya. Afterall, this was the item that connected the two worlds. But who knows if she's taken off her uniform or not.

Back in the real world...

Kaiya walked along the road to school, half asleep, clad in her uniform. She wasn't able to sleep much last night, so she was tired. As she made her way to the school gates, she noticed a certain girl with auburn colored hair in two buns on either side of her head.

"Miaka." she whispered and ran the rest of the way there.

"Miaka!" she called out, catching the girl's attention, "What're you doing here? You're supposed to be at home!"

Miaka smiled nervously, sweat drop prominent. But before she could answer her, there was a voice behind them.

"Miaka. Kaiya."

Miaka gave a startled shout and latched onto the school gate's leg. (Do gate's have legs?)

Kaiya realized it was just Kyo, but she didn't see Miaka relax much.

Kyo smiled sweetly at the two.

"What're you guys doing?" she said, then grabbed the two by their wrists. "Come on, let's go."

"K-Kyo!" Miaka said nervously.

Kyo dragged the two into the school. The three of them talked a bit until the bell rang, then they went to their classes.

During the break time during class, Kaiya's thoughts came upon Miaka.

'I wonder why Miaka was acting so strange around Kyo.' she thought, 'Did something happen between them?'

"Kaiya? Are you even listening?" one of her friends asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

Kaiya snapped out of her thoughts and smiled apologetically at her friends.

Finally, the bell for the class to end rang.

Kaiya stood up and tucked in her chair. She turned to wave goodbye to her friends, but found them all, including the other students, acting very strangely. One by one, they stood up. Kaiya noticed that all their eyes were a glowing a bright purple color. She suddenly heard a loud scream and recognized it as Miaka's.

"Miaka!" she shouted worriedly and tried to make her way out of the classroom, but was intercepted by her classmates.

"What're you guys doing?" she demanded, "Please, move!"

Two pairs of hands reached out and grabbed Kaiya by her arms. Kaiya twisted and turned, desperately trying to get free.

"You guys, let me go! Please!" she begged, but it was in vain.

The students opened the doors and practically dragged Kaiya to the rooftop. Kaiya's eyes widened. Miaka was beside her and was also being held by students.

"Miaka!" Kaiya shouted.

Miaka turned her head to Kaiya.

"Kaiya!" she shouted and tried to break free, but it was no use. Their grips were too strong.

"Mr. President." one of the students said, "We've brought Miaka Yuki and Kaiya Niigata to you."

Miaka and Kaiya turned to the front of them, where Shigyou stood on the top of a small building on the roof. His whole attire looked different than when they saw him last. His clothes resembled those of the other world's. Miaka and Kaiya glared at him.

"You bully!" Miaka shouted, "What's so worthwhile about controlling anyone?"

Shigyou turned around to face the two, smiling, and jumped down.

"You misunderstand my character. I just wanted you to have one peaceful day as high school students." he said and began walking towards Miaka, "My kinder nature, manifesting itself because I pity you a little."

Shigyou stopped in front of Miaka.

"You see, surprisingly, you're about to jump off this roof." he said, "High school student girl takes her life unexpectedly. It could be post-exam depression, or she was picked on at school. The public will have fun trying to explain it."

Tears formed at the rim of Miaka's eyes.

Kaiya struggled against her captors once more.

"Shigyou, stop this! Stop this, please!" she yelled.

Shigyou ignored her cries and focused on Miaka.

Miaka shut her eyes and lowered her head.

"Demon!" she shouted, "You're the devil in human skin, in disguise!"

"Human skin?" Shigyou repeated calmly, "That's nothing to me. Are human beings really that special? I know how weak and foolish humans really are, how cruel and cowardly."

Shigyou began to reminisce about his past, the horrible thing that happened to him to make him curse humans forever.

"Alone they can accomplish little, but when they gather into groups, they easily attack those that are isolated from them, or the least bit different than they are." he said and narrowed his eyes, "They'll abuse them until they drive them away, never considering the feelings of their "prey" who may merely seek their help."

Shigyou raised an arm and pointed his hand at the other students, the ones who were not holding the two.

"If I am a devil, so are they. Look at their placid expressions, how easily they are controlled. No matter what happens to you, they'll act as though it wasn't their problem.

"You're wrong!" Miaka shouted and opened her eyes to look at him, "I know human beings! Their warmth and kindness, and their strength! Their loving hearts and concern for others!"

"They have loving hearts." Shigyou scoffed, "Oh, yes, just like we do, just exactly."

He leaned closer to Miaka and lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"You're so naive. Shall we test your theory?" he asked and his eyes began to glow.

Miaka's eyes widened. She tried to avert her gaze, but Shigyou kept a firm grip on her chin.

'Don't look into his eyes!' she thought.

"I'm going to break you two apart."

'No!'

"You'll vanish soon anyway."

'No!'

"And then I'll make you love me in his place."

'No... Somebody help me! Help me... Taka!'

From within Miaka's jacket, something began to glow, a red light shining through.

Kaiya's eyes widened.

"Stop this, Shigyou! Stop it, NOW!" Kaiya shouted one last time. A pink character began to glow on her left hand and everything ceased to move.

Miaka looked left and right in confusion, wondering why Shigyou suddenly stopped moving.

Kaiya broke free and ran to Miaka, breaking her free as well. Kaiya grabbed Miaka's hand and ran a short distance away from Shigyou before she fell to her knees, clutching her chest in pain. The pink character disappeared, and the black character began to glow. Kaiya covered her right hand with her left, concealing the glowing mark and screwed her eyes shut.

Everything began to move again.

Miaka knelt down beside Kaiya, her eyes filled with worry.

Shigyou hissed and turned to them.

"I see you used your powers. No matter, you will be one of us in due time." he said and began to walk towards them.

Miaka looked from Shigyou to Kaiya, a look of desperation on her face.

"Kaiya, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, "We've got to get out of here, Kaiya!"

Finally, the pain stopped and Kaiya opened her eyes. In her mind, the remainder of her life flashed by; five weeks.

"I'm fine now, really." she reassured her, "We've got to figure a way out..."

But the girls were running out of time. Shigyou and the students were only a few steps away and getting closer.

"Ugh!"

"Urgh!"

"Ugh...!"

Shigyou scowled and turned his head to where the commotion was.

"I don't know what sort of insight you have, but it's not that compelling."

"Taka!" Miaka acknowledged happily.

Miaka and Kaiya looked to each other, hope returning to their faces.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get here sooner, Miaka." said Taka. He began to runs towards Shigyou, taking care of any student in the way.

Shigyou jumped back, into the air.

From inside her jacket, Miaka pulled out a red scroll.

"Taka, here!" she shouted and threw it into the air, to Taka as he ran by.

Taka reached a hand out to grasp the scroll.

Miaka stared happily at Taka, remembering something that Keisuke had told her once.

_Did you know this, Miaka? Suzaku was originally called "Ho-oh." Ho meant "male" and oh meant "female." And it was also known as the phoenix. It would consummate its life by burning itself with flames, and within them, be reborn over and over. It's a symbol of eternal, inescapable, pre-destined love. So, I guess you could say that love is the source of Suzaku's power. Heh... Love.. Heh heh... _

Just as Taka was about to grab the scroll, the string around it became undone, and it unraveled itself.

Shigyou landed on the railing. He looked ahead to see a red, unraveled scrolling flying towards him. His eyes widened and he let out a gasp.

The scroll flew by Shigyou, cutting his cheek.

Shigyou covered his face with an arm and jumped off the railing, attempting to escape. The scroll seemed to have a mind of its own and quickly chased after Shigyou. It began to glow red and wrapped itself around him, ceasing his movements completely, and trapping him.

Taka, Miaka, and Kaiya stared in shock.

"The scroll just..." Taka said and trailed off.

Shigyou tried to struggle to break free of his confines as he began to fall to the ground.

The scroll glowed brighter, coating the three in red light.

The three looked to each other, realizing that they were going back to the other world.

Just as Shigyou was about to hit the ground, he vanished, and the scroll fell to the ground.

Back in the book world...

Insect songs chimed through the night air. A village not too far from the capital was covered in the night's darkness. All the windows were black, signaling that everyone was asleep.

Along the side of a manor house, two figures concealed by the darkness crept silently through the bushes. As they left the bushes, the moonlight shone on them, revealing them to be Chichiri and Tasuki.

Suddenly sensing other presences, Tasuki turned and tilted his head to the sky.

"Incoming!" he whispered.

A red light burst forth and Miaka came falling down.

Using his quick reflexes, Tasuki turned his body about and caught Miaka, then gently let her down.

Hotohori crawled through the bushes to kneel beside Tasuki, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Hey, nice catch, no da." Chichiri whispered.

Kaiya came next through the red light, falling as well.

This time, it was Chichiri's turn to react. He caught Kaiya and gently let her down.

Last to come through was Taka. Unfortunately for him, everybody's hands were either full or... transparent, so he fell to the ground, head first in the bushes.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

"And welcome back Tamahome." Chichiri said with a smile.

Kaiya slowly opened her eyes. She used one arm to brace herself on the ground and the other to rub her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asked, not recognizing her surroundings.

"Good to see you again, Kaiya, no da." Chichiri said.

Kaiya smiled at him.

"You too, Chichiri." she replied, "How's your arm?"

Chichiri smiled.

"It's healing well, no da." he answered.

"I'm glad." she answered. She then turned to Miaka and placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook, "Miaka, wake up."

Miaka's eyes opened slowly.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Miaka, it's good to see you again." Hotohori whispered.

Miaka's face brightened and she sat up.

"Hotohori! You guys!" she cried happily.

Chichiri placed a finger to his lips.

"Shhh! Not so loud, no da!" he whispered.

"Huh?" Miaka said.

"We're trying to be quiet because we're being thieves tonight."

Everyone turned their attention behind them. Two more people like Hotohori appeared, ghost-wise. One had purple hair and the other had light brown hair. Kaiya recognized the two as Chiriko and Nuriko.

"Kinda stupid breaking in my own house, though." Nuriko said.

"You mean this is your home, Nuriko? And you're breaking in?" Miaka asked and turned her head back to Chichiri and Tasuki. Suddenly realizing who she had just spoken to, Miaka turned her head again to Nuriko and Chiriko, "Oh, Nuriko! And Chiriko!"

Everyone placed fingers to their lips and desperately tried to shush her.

After Miaka got the picture, and Taka had caught up with them, they resumed sneaking into Nuriko's home.

Nuriko pointed to a side door.

"It's this way." he said.

Tasuki, now in lead, quietly slid the door open and crawled in.

"So you say a week's passed since we were here last?" Taka asked quietly.

"I don't just say it's passed, it's passed!" Tasuki snapped, "Whose jewels d'ya think we've been lookin' fer', huh?"

"And you found Nuriko's jewel?" Miaka asked excitedly.

"Sort of..." Hotohori replied.

Everyone crawled in and sat at the side of their door, giving their attention to Nuriko.

"I'm sorry, it's my older brother, you see." he said sadly and explained the conversation his brother had with the two living warriors, "He was pretty shaken up when he talked about how our sister died when he was little, then me, now. He said they say I died an honorable death in battle, but that I was buried alone in a frozen wasteland..."

Chichiri picked up from Nuriko.

"At first, he let us burn incense for Nuriko's soul, but TASUKI-" he said, slightly exasperated at the fanged warrior.

"Hey, I couldn't help it, I couldn't!" Tasuki interjected, "To suddenly see Nuriko goofing around in that serious atmosphere? I mean, I just lost it."

"I couldn't help it either!" Nuriko agreed, "When I realized that I was in my own house and you guys were praying for me with such serious looks, well... Not that I didn't like the attention, but still, I was embarrassed."

Taka leaned towards Tasuki, angrily glaring.

"So, you had to lose your cool and turn him against us?" he growled.

Tasuki glared back at Taka and raised his fan in a warning.

"Don't give me that dirty look." he growled back.

"We need to teach you guys to give us good news, not bad." Kaiya said and sighed.

"So... Rokou has the stone in his possession?" Miaka asked, ignoring the two's argument.

Nuriko shook his head.

"No, it's right here." he answered, and pointed to a small, clear ball seated on a red satin cushion and golden stand.

"A crystal ball?" Kaiya asked.

"You mean..." Miaka realized and trailed off.

"It's been a treasure of mind since I was little. I remember hearing that souls of the dead come back and live in these every year during the Chuugen Festival." Nuriko said, "I noticed its color had changed from what it used to be, and I found the jewel inside."

"We were kinda rash, no da, and we took the thing and tried to break it open immediately." Chichiri said shamefully.

Nuriko's expression saddened and he closed his eyes.

"Honestly..." he said, "My brother's silly..."

"I understand how Rokou feels, but Tamahome is more important at this time." Chiriko said.

"Exactly. If we proceed too slowly, he may vanish, and then our cause will be lost." said Hotohori.

Nuriko opened his eyes and turned to Tasuki.

"Tasuki, I don't care, just break it." he said.

"You sure?" Tasuki asked.

"We have to do something. I don't think that he's gonna change." Nuriko said. He studied the floor, recalling his childhood, "When we were little, he was a coward, a cry-baby. Everybody picked on him. And he always had to be saved by his little brother. He depended on others for everything."

Nuriko looked up from the ground and at the others.

"It's been two years since it happened. He has to finally accept that I'm dead and get on with his own life." he said, "Right now, Tamahome's memory jewel is more important."

Tasuki nodded and pulled out the fan on his back.

"Okay, then. Miaka, give the crystal ball to Tamahome to hold onto, 'kay?" he said.

Taka glared at Tasuki.

"What? So you can fry me alone with it?" he said.

Tasuki glared back at Taka.

"I can aim. I'll only hit the ball, coward." he snapped.

Taka held out his hand for Miaka to give him the ball. But when the ball landed in his hand, he suddenly felt an immense pain inside his body. Still holding the ball, he clutched his body. An evil, purple aura surrounded him. From that aura, a translucent monster appeared above him.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Taka!" Miaka shouted.

Taka screamed in pain.

On Mt. Taikyoku (or at least that's where I thought it was)...

Mt. Taikyoku was very different from how it looked before. Tall spires of rock jutted out of the ground, reaching up to the sky. The sky was blood-red and was covered with dark, purple clouds. In the center of the sky was a large, dark moon.

In a wide space between a few of the spires, was Shigyou. But he was unconscious and he was being held in the arms of a woman.

The woman had the same lavender hair as Shigyou, but hers was up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were the same bright purple as well. She wore a dark red shirt tunic with purple and orange inner lining over her pale skin. Her tunic did not fully reach her waist, leaving a bit of her torso bare. Her pants were the same shade as her tunic and had a gold colored waistband.

The woman was sitting on the ground with Shigyou, holding him close to her. She had formed an energy barrier around them and was giving some of her energy to him.

"Ren, no one can judge us, or what we do." she whispered, "No one."

Back with Kaiya and co. ...

Chichiri ran forward and grabbed Taka with one hand and pressed his other's palm to his chest, casting a spell. His hand on his chest began to glow red, signaling that his spell was commencing.

"What happened? A monster's inside of Tama?" Tasuki asked.

"Taka!" Miaka cried and took a step forward.

Chichiri turned his head back to her. The monster had gone back inside Taka and lay dormant, for now.

"No! Stay back! Miaka, you mustn't touch him!" he shouted.

Back on Mt. Taikyoku...

"Yes... A power completely apart from that of Suzaku." the woman said, "It has attached itself within his body."

Kaiya and co. ...

Taka finally collapsed, releasing his grip on the crystal ball. The ball rolled out of his hand and onto the ground.

"This is more than just a spell being cast at this moment." Chichiri said.

"What're you doing here?"

Everyone turned their attention to the room's doors. In the doorway stood a man with dark blue hair and gray eyes. He was wearing a gray night gown with a light pink neckline. His eyes trembled.

Kaiya assumed he was Nuriko's brother, Rokou.

"What was that thing? A monster?" Rokou asked, "Why did you bring a monster here?"

"Oh, geez..." Tasuki groaned.

Mt Taikyoku...

"Almost done... Once I give Ren a bit more of my life force, we'll finish this, Lord Tenkou." the woman said and turned her head to a dark figure beside her.

The figure summoned small balls of fire around himself, providing some light. His skin was quite pale. He had long silver hair that reached the floor and yellow eyes with thin pupils, almost like cat (a real cat) eyes. Around his forehead was a golden circlet with a red jewel in the center and a blue teardrop shaped jewel hanging from that. He wore a long black cloak, making his skin seem even more pale.

"That's fine." he said, "Miisu, you must take your time. Renhou needs your help to recover.

Kaiya and co. ...

Rokou picked up the crystal ball form the ground and held it closely to him.

"I will never give this treasure to any friends of monsters." he said.

Nuriko walked up to him.

"Brother." he said in a pleading tone.

Rokou squeezed his eyes shut, unable to hear Nuriko's words.

"Please, leave this house now!" he commanded.

"No, brother, don't!" Nuriko protested.

"If you won't leave, then I will, with the crystal ball!" Rokou said and ran out the front doors, "Somebody, bring my carriage! Bring my carriage around at once!"

Two ministers came running, surprised at the sudden shout.

"Lord Rokou, it's very late! Where do you want to go?" the first minister asked.

"To the temple! I'm going to ask the Buddha to protect this crystal." Rokou answered and ran down the steps.

Nuriko stared after him, saddened.

"It's not only that he can't see me, he can't hear me as well..." he muttered, "Brother..."

Kaiya watched from a short distance away.

"Nuriko..." she murmured, her eyes growing blank.

Nuriko returned inside. As Taka explained to everyone how the monster got into him, Chiriko and Chichiri prepared a spell around him.

"So that woman planted the evil creature inside your body?" Hotohori asked seriously.

"Sorry..." Taka said weakly, "I was careless and I never suspected her..."

Chiriko finished the last of the spell's preparations and looked up at Chichiri.

"This is ready now, Chichiri." he said.

"What is that?" Tasuki asked, intrigued by the strange wards on the ground around Taka. (I didn't know whether they were wards or just the rug)

"A spell to seal the demon." Chichiri answered, "If I can cast a barrier and then use his highness' holy sword, combined with our powers to silence the creature inside Tamahome, then we could dislodge it!"

"Will Tamahome be hurt by this?" Nuriko asked worriedly.

"A celestial warrior has far more resilience than a normal person, but..." Chiriko said, "This is tricky..."

"But he's not even a full-strength warrior now!" Tasuki exclaimed.

"If we could only get that stone..." Hotohori said.

From the corner of her eye, Kaiya spotted Miaka leaving through the front doors.

'Miaka?' she thought, then realized what her friend was up to, 'You're going for the stone yourself?'

Kaiya glanced back at the others, then quietly snuck out after Miaka. She began to run in the direction of the temple and soon spotted her.

"Miaka!" she called out, running faster.

Miaka halted and looked back, finding Kaiya behind her.

"Kaiya!" she acknowledged.

Suddenly, the two heard the sound of a running horse. Kaiya looked behind her and saw Tasuki riding towards them on a horse.

"Whoa!" Tasuki commanded his horse, pulling on the horse's reins. The horse reared, whinnying, and pawing its hooves in the air. The horse relaxed and settled down on the ground.

Tasuki turned his head to look back at them.

"Idiots. Do you even know where the temple is?" he asked with a grin.

"Tasuki!" Miaka acknowledged.

"Climb on!" he said and helped the two girls onto the mount. Kaiya sat in front with Tasuki behind her, holding onto the reins, and Miaka sat behind him, her arms around his waist. Tasuki flicked the reins, and they were off.

"Boy, Tamahome can do no wrong in your eyes, huh?" Tasuki said as they rode away from the house and into the grassy plains, "I mean, ain't ya even a little pissed off at 'im?"

Kaiya glanced back at Tasuki, wondering what caused the sudden conversation of Taka.

"Think about it for a second! How he let that girl, Miiru, cast a spell on 'im and plant that monster inside his ear?" he continued, "As I see it, it's Tama's own fault. He was probably makin' a play fer' her an' she bit!" (I'm serious here. Tasuki has a sick, SICK mind)

Kaiya gasped as she saw Miaka let go and fall off the horse.

"Miaka!" she shouted.

Tasuki pulled on the horse's reins, causing the horse to whinny and rear.

"Miaka! Hey, wha'd'ya think yer' doing?" he shouted. The horse settled again.

Miaka lifted her head up from the ground, and looked at Tasuki with slight anger in her eyes.

"That's enough! Just go! Poor Taka..." she said, "I'm sick of you bad-mouthing Tamahome! You know he isn't irresponsible like that! Tasuki, you're his... you're Tamahome's friend, aren't you?"

Miaka stood up and began to walk past the horse.

"Nevermind. You two go back, okay?" she said more softly.

"Miaka..." Kaiya said quietly and dismounted the horse.

Tasuki turned his head forward and lowered it, regretting his words.

"I was just... Look, I... I just felt bad for you..." he said quietly, "I don't wanna see ya lookin' sad..."

Kaiya looked back at Tasuki, looking closely at his eyes. She realized just how the warrior felt about her friend, and her expression softened.

"Tasuki..." she whispered.

Tasuki shut his eyes and shook his head.

"No, that's not it!" he said aloud, "What'm I saying?"

He opened his eyes and looked at Miaka.

"Wait up, Miaka. C'mon..." he pleaded.

Miaka began walking to the right, in the direction of the temple.

"I asked you to go back!" she said stubbornly.

Kaiya turned her attention back to Miaka and ran up to her.

"Miaka, I'm coming with you. I'll help you. Let Tasuki come too. I'm sure he didn't mean anything. He was just worried." she said and gave Miaka a face that left no room for argument.

Miaka gave in and sighed.

"Alright." she said.

Suddenly, Tasuki spotted two, glowing, yellow eyes, and a dark, slinky figure in the grass beside Miaka.

Kaiya and Miaka heard its movements through the grass. They whirled around at the noise and gasped. Just as the creature jumped out, Kaiya lunged at Miaka, sending the two falling over.

"Miaka!" Tasuki shouted, rushing towards them. The animal/monster (I couldn't tell) looked like a combination of a weasel and a monster. It had a weasel's body, but skinny, boney legs, claws, razor sharp teeth, and yellow eyes.

Deciding to ignore its previous prey for now, the weasel monster set its sights on Tasuki. Tasuki was too slow to react and the creature managed to get its fangs into his arm. It jumped off his arm and began to climb up a tree to jump off for a second attack.

Tasuki leaped off the horse, drew his fan, and stabbed the creature to the tree before it could go any higher, or jump off.

"Rekka Shien!" he shouted. Fire burst forth from the fan, successfully destroying the creature.

Kaiya lifted her head and looked over at Miaka. She placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Miaka! Are you alright?" she asked, worriedly.

Miaka pushed herself up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she said, then turned to Tasuki, "Tasuki!"

Tasuki dropped to one knee, clutching his wound, and winced.

"I think... it was poisonous...!" he said between gritted teeth.

Kaiya and Miaka rushed over to Tasuki and kneeled down beside him.

"What should we do?" Miaka asked worriedly.

"Don't you know?" Tasuki asked, "Suck the poison out of the wound... Then bandage it tightly so it can't reach my heart."

"Ah! I still have my bandages!" Kaiya said and took out her bandages from her pocket.

"Alright." Miaka said and took off his tunic, just enough to reveal his wound. She squeezed lightly and placed her lips over it, then began to suck.

Tasuki groaned in pain.

Miaka spat out the poisoned blood in her mouth and repeated until she was sure there was nothing more she could do, then moved aside.

Kaiya moved in and wrapped the bandages around his wound tightly, just as he instructed.

Miaka wiped the blood off her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Will you be alright now?" she asked.

A sudden thought dawned on Kaiya and she immediately turned to Miaka.

"Miaka, maybe you could do the same thing to Taka's ear wound!" she said.

Miaka's eyes widened.

"Outta the way, I'm coming through!"

Miaka, Tasuki, and Kaiya turned their heads to the road to find Nuriko running by with an unconscious Rokou being carried by his head.

Nuriko stopped suddenly, having just realized who he ran by, and turned around.

"Miaka? Tasuki? Kaiya? What's going on?" he asked.

Back at Rokou's home...

Chichiri sat in front of Taka, his forefingers and thumbs pressed together to maintain the barrier around Taka. Hotohori sat on the opposite side of where Chichiri sat with his sword in his hands. He was channeling his energy to Taka through his sword to keep the monster within him at bay.

Chiriko kneeled down by Taka's legs and tried to hold them down, but went right through him instead. He frowned at this.

"It's no use. I can't diminish the hold it has on him." he said sadly and turned his head away in guilt.

Chichiri sympathized the young boy.

"It's not your fault, Chiriko." he said.

"That's right. In the meantime, I will protect Tamahome with my life force." said Hotohori, "Only a living person can actually touch him."

"Until Tasuki, Miaka, and Kaiya return, we have to concentrate." Chichiri said determinedly.

Suddenly, the doors burst open, and Nuriko walked in, a happy expression on his face.

"We're all here!" he announced.

Everyone turned to Nuriko, shocked.

"Nuriko!" Chiriko acknowledged.

Nuriko lay Rokou down on the floor, his back against the wall. Remaining in Nuriko's arms were Tasuki, Miaka, and Kaiya, piled in that order.

Tasuki had an annoyed, yet nervous, grin on his face. Miaka was a little surprised with being carried in the arms of a ghost, and Kaiya looked like she had motion sickness.

"I brought my brother back with me, and the stone, too!" Nuriko said cheerfully, "Along with Kaiya, Miaka, and this bloodless snake."

Tasuki dropped his head and his expression became crestfallen.

"Can ya let me down now?" he whined.

After the three of them were put down, and Rokou regained consciousness, Miaka explained the idea to them all.

"Draw the creature out from the wound?" Chichiri repeated.

"That sounds dangerous and questionable, is it not?" said Hotohori.

"Yeah..." Nuriko agreed, "What if it ends up inside of you next, Miaka?"

"If Miaka gets hurt, Tamahome will never forgive us!" said Chiriko.

"Exactly, but Tamahome can't take the pain in his condition." said Chichiri.

"I can... handle it..." Taka said weakly, and turned his head to Miaka, "I don't know how you'll do it, but Miaka... it'll be okay... I won't lose to this... I won't... If it means... I can hold you again soon, then... I can withstand anything."

Miaka made her final decision and turned to Nuriko, her face resolute.

"Please help him, Nuriko!" she said.

Elsewhere...

Miisu sat alone in an empty and dark room. The only lighting was the glowing of her life force that she was channeling through a small, dangling, blood-red, clay doll connected to a small chain in her hand.

"Chichiri... the sorcerer... Will his barrier hold out much longer?" she mused.

Back with the group...

Taka was sitting somewhat upright. Nuriko kneeled behind him, his arms ringed under Taka's, bracing him to him.

"These bracelets are the only things that are holding you down. I'm being real careful, so I won't be as powerful as usual." Nuriko said, "So try not to go too wild, 'kay?"

Taka glanced back at Nuriko.

"Right... I'll do my best." he answered.

"Miaka." Nuriko said, signaling her to begin.

Miaka nodded and walked over to Taka.

Rokou watched silently with wide, fearful eyes. One hand clutched the crystal ball, while the other was in a loose fist near his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut as Taka's screams began to fill the room.

With Miisu...

"It's useless, no matter what you attempt to help him, he'll never be able to stand it." she said confidently.

Back with the group...

Miaka continued sucking on Taka's ear wound, her face quivering as he screamed again.

Tasuki leaned down by Taka's legs, and held onto them.

"Try ta hang in there, buddy." he said and received a kick to the face, "Ow!"

"Tasuki!" Kaiya cried worriedly and rushed over to assist him.

Unable to bear it any longer, Taka turned his head away.

"Taka!" Miaka cried.

Rokou opened his eyes again, shamefully watching the display.

"No, Tasuki! You're injured, too!" Hotohori shouted.

"I know, but I'm tough. I can take it." Tasuki said and got up again. He gripped Taka's legs again, "Now, let's do it! Come on!"

Kaiya was also holding onto Taka's legs. They felt him yank and held on tighter.

Nuriko looked over his shoulder at his brother.

"Big brother! I know you can hear me now, can't you?" he said and held Taka tighter when he felt him try to break free, "Help us, please! It's up to you now!"

Rokou's eyes trembled.

"Ryuen... I can't..." he said and squeezed his eyes shut, "I can't do it! I don't have... that kind of strength!"

Chiriko appeared behind Rokou, an angry aura surrounding him. He lunged at Rokou, trying to take possession of his body. Rokou tensed, feeling his body reject the possession in a painful way.

"No, Chiriko!" Chichiri screamed. "You can't possess someone who's heart is closed to you! Leave him alone! Stop it, now!"

Rokou/Chiriko screamed. Chiriko was forced back and fell to the ground. Rokou fell to his knees, dropping the crystal ball.

Chiriko slowly pushed himself up, his fists shaking.

"Even though you live now..." he said and lifted his head to face Rokou, tears streaming down his face, "Even though you're alive, if you don't help, you won't live long! Why won't you let me... Please... let me into you...!"

Rokou stared at the floor, listening to the ghost's cries.

Chiriko began to sob.

"You're a disgrace...! It will all end because you're a coward and a disgrace!" he shouted.

"Chiriko..." Chichiri whispered.

Kaiya looked up at Rokou with blank eyes, still managing her grip on Taka's legs.

"Please, Rokou! You're the only one who can help right now." she said softly, "I know you still mourn for your brother. I know you're sad you can't see him, or feel him. I know it's hard to accept death, but that's life. It's not always fair. But right now, you can help two others who love each other, and others who may need help, and live the next day knowing you did something right. Please, Rokou... Help us."

Chichiri stared silently at her, studying her blank look.

'It's like she understands him completely... Maybe she's gone through this... before?' he thought, but his attention, as well as the others', was quickly taken back to Taka when he screamed again.

"No! He's biting his own tongue!" Nuriko shouted, and squeezed his eyes shut. He opened them again when he heard nothing but muffled screams. His eyes widened when he found Rokou beside him with his arm in Taka's mouth. In Rokou's free hand was his arm/bracelet. "Rokou!"

Rokou looked up, past Taka's head to where he thought his brother was.

"I understand... I know you're gone now. No matter where I search, I'll never find you." he said, tears pooling in his eyes, "They say you were honorable, that you died bravely... Yet why can't I accept it?"

Nuriko stared at his brother, listening intently to every word.

"They told me you rest peacefully in the snow, but I couldn't see your body to grieve for you." he said, "All I knew was that you... that you were dead, and how much I missed you, how much I wanted to hold you and weep for you. Yet I was denied that wish to see you one more time... I miss you so much."

Rokou closed his eyes and lowered his head.

Nuriko moved his arm so that his hand rested in his brother's. He interlaced their fingers and hand began to glow.

Rokou's head snapped up and his eyes opened in surprise when he suddenly felt a hand in his. There in front of him, was Ryuen, his brother, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

"Oh, brother." Nuriko said softly.

Rokou's lips curled into a smile, and the tears in his eyes flowed down his cheeks.

"Ryuen..." he said.

Finally able to get the monster out of Taka's ear, Miaka's face contorted in disgust. She spat it out on the ground near her. Hotohori ran towards the blood puddle, sword ready in his hand. Nuriko released Taka, knowing it was okay to do so, and backed away. He and Rokou sat down side by side as Rokou had his arm bandaged by Kaiya. The blood puddle mutated into its true form and was immediately destroyed by Hotohori's sword.

"Brother, you and I may look alike, but we are so different, and always have been." Rokou joked, "Your heart, your strength. You're so powerful."

Everyone rested on the floor, silently watching the two having their brotherly moment. Miaka held Taka close to her, relieved that he was okay now. Kaiya's eyes were normal again, and she smiled at them.

"I'm pathetic in comparison." Rokou continued, "I wanted to show you that I could be a big brother to you, but before I could, you were gone. I want to be a better man. Will you accept me as your big brother?"

Nuriko locked his arm with his brother's and turned to face him. His eyes softened.

"What're you saying? All my life you've been my big brother, haven't you?" he asked and closed his eyes with a smile, "It's okay. You're stronger now. You know what? You'll be okay."

Elsewhere...

Tenkou sat in a completely dark room, watching the display through a ball of fire in his hand. The scene disappeared and he crushed the flame into nothingness. He laughed evilly.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: Well! That's another chapter done! I didn't know what a lot of things were in this episode, but I think it worked out. I'm not sure if I spelled Nuriko's brother's name right. If it's not, somebody please tell me and I'll change it. Excuse any bad grammar you see. Next chapter may take longer than the usual time (two months), 'cause there are things in there I really shouldn't be seeing... And I have to see in order to WRITE the chapter. Um... REVIEW! You know you wanna... Please?


	5. Chapter 5

Author Notes: Oh my god. It feels like forever since I've updated my stories. But I think it's only been about a month... Anyway, yes, it's another update! About time! I've been so busy with school. Math and personal planning teachers assign things like crazy. Plus, I've been distracted with my new PS2, which is kinda late since the PS3 is coming out soon, and my friend let me borrow his Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, so I had fun playing those. I've also been getting into romance novels lately. They're good stories, plus, it gives me a chance to expand on my vocab when it comes to the grammar of intimacy. Sad to say, I'm not sure I learned anything. Along with novels, there's been a lot of mangas lately, so as you can all tell, I've been busy. On to the story!  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Rekka Shien!"

Flames burst forth from Tasuki's diamond fan, and wrapped themselves around the crystal ball. They dispersed shortly and the jewel of memory was left, unharmed. The jewel floated over to Taka and landed in his hand.

Taka looked down at the stone as it dissolved and bestowed upon him his memories of Nuriko. He closed his eyes as they came rushing back to him.

"Nuriko, I remember what you said about the tough times making us stronger, and how some day, we'll be able to laugh about them." he said and opened his eyes to look at Nuriko. "It's true, isn't it, Nuriko?"

Nuriko, Hotohori, and Chiriko quickly gathered around him, all with slightly agitated expressions. Taka shrank back in fear. Nuriko put his hands on his hips and forced a smile at him, even though he clearly looked like he wanted to break Taka's neck.

"Yeah, that's right." he said, "If ya live through it..."

"Why must you point out that you're still alive and we're not?" Hotohori said.

"Do you want to join our little club, Tamahome?" Chiriko asked.

"Uh... no! That's not what I meant!" Taka said, trying to defend himself.

Kaiya, Miaka, Chichiri, Rokou, and Tasuki all stood beside one another, watching the argument.

"It looks like we're doing really well with those stones." Kaiya commented, smiling.

"Only three more to go, no da." Chichiri said.

"Hey, can we call it quits fer' ta'day?" Tasuki whined, feeling tired.

Everyone turned their attention to the red headed warrior.

"Of course." Rokou said, "Please feel free to stay here, all of you. I'll have rooms readied at once."

"Yay! Sleepover! Sleepover!" Nuriko cheered upon hearing the news, raising and waving his arms in excitement.

"Hey, this is your house!" Miaka laughed.

"I don't like it!" Tasuki exclaimed as the rooming arrangements were made. He glared at Miaka and Taka. "Why do you guys always get ta' have your own room?"

Nuriko towered over the irritating ex-bandit, hands on his hips.

"You're hurt, remember?" he shouted, "Keep the volume down!"

"Miaka and Tamahome are an exception!" Chiriko said.

Kaiya giggled at Tasuki's scowl.

"Come along, Tasuki. I'll tell you all about my remarkable son, Boushin." Hotohori offered.

"No thanks!" Tasuki said, leaning away from the royal narcissist.

"You're really obnoxious, no da!" Chichiri teased, "I wish another poisonous snake would bite 'cha, no da!"

Tasuki's scowl deepened, causing Kaiya to laugh harder.

"Very funny." Tasuki said.

Miaka and Taka went to their given room, while Nuriko stayed in Rokou's, and everyone else went to their shared, but accommodating, room.

It was late at night when Kaiya began to stir in her makeshift bed. She seemed to be the only one still awake. She sighed and turned to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Everything had been happening so fast. She was still catching up to the day's excitement. How the others could sleep, she didn't know. But she guessed they must've been used to it, since they already helped Miaka summon Suzaku and all. She could still remember hearing about their adventures from Miaka.

Kaiya's thoughts came upon Miaka and Tamahome and their relationship. Unconsciously, she smiled at the thought. She was happy for them, of course, and happy that she could help them stay together. But... she was just a tad jealous as well, and her smile faded.

She shook her head to rid herself of the displeasing emotion. She then began to think about the Suzaku warriors. Each of them were interesting in their own way. Hotohori with his narcissism, Nuriko with his optimistic/sarcastic attitude, Chiriko with his intelligence, Tasuki with his aggressiveness, and Chichiri...

Kaiya turned her head to stare at the blue haired monk who was lying on his side and facing her. She didn't know if he was asleep or not since his eyes were always closed... or... seemed to be closed.

Chichiri was the most interesting of them all. His eyes always seemed to be smiling, despite the times when he was serious. He was odd, but in a good way, and he was- is... attractive.

In a split second, Kaiya's hand reached up and lightly slapped herself.

'What on earth am I thinking...' she scolded herself. She turned back onto her back and sighed. 'Darn... I just can't sleep...'

Kaiya sat up and quietly tip-toed out of the room, closing the door behind her quietly.

Chichiri sat up in his makeshift bed, staring at the doors to the room that Kaiya had just left through. He hadn't taken off his mask, nor slept.

In all honesty, what kept him up was her, and she was also the reason he kept his mask on. He had sensed her restlessness as well as her energy going from a high, like a happy feeling, to a low, like a feeling of... well... not happy, but not exactly sad either... and back again. It troubled him to sense it and not being able to say anything, seeing as she thought he was asleep. But... why exactly did it bother him so much?

It made him blush though, when she turned and gazed at him. Come to think of it, he had been feeling odd ever since he met her. He found himself thinking of her when she wasn't around. He could imagine her in his head (clothed, mind you): her long wavy hair, beautiful brown eyes, and her soft pink lips...

Chichiri reached a hand up and slapped himself. He felt a deep blush creep up his face. He pushed the thoughts away and sat up. Gently gripping the bottom edge of his mask with his thumb and forefinger, he tugged downwards. The mask came off with a gentle _plop!_ He rested the mask in his hands and stared at it.

A large scar covered his right eye, from the top of the eye, to the tip of his nose. Because of the scar, his eye was sealed shut, making it so that only his left eye was able to see. But the scar wasn't all that bad. After all, it prevented him from forgetting what happened all those years ago and the reason he had become a monk.

'I can't let myself fall in love again...' he thought, 'Besides, who would fall in love with a... killer?'

His eye widened and his head jerked up when he sensed an unfamiliar energy coming from... outside. He immediately became worried about Kaiya.

Chichiri quickly placed his mask back on, grabbed his staff, and ran out of the room. He ran left of the room, along the outer walkway, using his powers to search for Kaiya.

Eventually he sensed her on the roof, and teleported there.

"Aaaah!"

He looked down quickly to see Kaiya sitting on the roof with her legs bend to her sides, and slowly falling backwards. Turns out he teleported right in front of her, as in face to leg.

Kaiya stared wide-eyed in front of her as she was falling and waved her arms about frantically. She closed her eyes in mid-fall, waiting to begin rolling. But she found that she had stopped, and that there was a grip around her left wrist.

Kaiya cracked an eye open. She found it was Chichiri holding her wrist. He pulled her up until she was sitting again, then sat down beside her.

Kaiya sat on her knees, her body facing Chichiri's side. She sighed and hung her head down.

"I'll never get used to that." she said.

Chichiri smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh heh... Sorry, no da. That was my fault." he said, then turned his head to face her. "What're you doing out her so late, no da?"

Kaiya looked up at him, a small, unnoticeable blush creeping up on her at the remembrance of her thoughts not long ago.

"I-I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come outside for a while 'til I felt tired." she answered, "What about you, Chichiri? I'm sorry if I woke you on my way out."

Chichiri stilled for a moment, unable to detect the energy he felt before. He shook his head at Kaiya and smiled.

"Actually, I couldn't sleep either, no da." he answered, absolutely positive that he wasn't going to tell her that thinking of her kept him up.

"I sensed a strange energy somewhere outside, and I got worried, so I came out to check on you, no da." he said.

Kaiya tensed. Her pain spasm had finished just before Chichiri arrived and her time went down by one day, leaving only four weeks and six days left. Instinctively, she knew it was the curse activating that he must have sensed.

Chichiri noticed her uneasy expression.

"But it's gone now, no da. So there's nothing to worry about, no da." he said reassuringly.

Kaiya relaxed and smiled.

"That's a relief." she said.

Chichiri nodded.

"By the way, how'd you get up here, no da?" he asked.

"Climbed!" She answered cheerfully.

Chichiri sweat dropped.

Kaiya's expression became a little crestfallen and she stared at her feet.

"Hey, Chichiri, can I ask you... um.. a q-question?" she said.

"A question? Go ahead, no da." he said.

Kaiya put her forefingers together and began to press them together playfully.

"Um... Do you think... I'm useless?" she asked.

Chichiri was taken aback by the question. He studied the young girl's face carefully.

"Of course not, no da! Why do you ask such a question, no da?" he asked.

Kaiya's stare at her feet became more intense.

"W-well, I know I just haven't helped any of you a whole bunch... And I can't really do anything..." she started. "I just feel like... I'm no use to anybody..."

Chichiri frowned.

"Everybody contributes in their own way, no da. Don't worry about anything." he said and smiled. "Besides, you've already helped us a lot, even if you don't think so, or realize it, no da."

"Thanks, Chichiri." she said, then turned her head to him. "Do you ever feel like that? Like you're... no good to anybody?"

Chichiri tilted his head up in thought, then lowered it when he remembered a certain circumstance.

"Yes, no da. It was years ago... but it still lingers around in my head..." he said softly.

Kaiya gave him a sympathetic look. She reached a hand over and was about to touch his shoulder when an earthquake suddenly shook the building. She braced herself on the roof.

Chichiri wrapped his arms around Kaiya to prevent her from falling. At the same time he was protecting her, he sensed a presence, a very familiar and evil presence.

Finally, the earthquake stopped. Chichiri released his hold on Kaiya slightly and turned his head towards where he sensed the presence with a scowl on his face.

Kaiya opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Chichiri? What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Chichiri continued to look ahead, as if angry at something.

"We've got to go back to the others." was all he said. He teleported Kaiya and himself back their accommodated sleeping room, where everyone was already up.

"Chichiri, what was that?" Hotohori asked, a worried expression on his face.

"It's him, no da!" Chichiri said seriously.

Kaiya blinked, confused.

Nuriko and Rokou stepped outside their room and peeked out from behind the door, having sensed and felt the same thing.

"What's going on?" Nuriko asked.

"What was that just now?" Rokou asked.

Chichiri stepped in front of them.

"It came from Miaka and Tamahome's room!" he said.

Nuriko and Rokou exchanged serious looks, then turned to Chichiri and nodded.

"We better go now." Nuriko said.

"What's going on? Are Miaka and Taka in trouble?" Kaiya asked as they rushed to the couple's room.

Chichiri continued to look forward.

"Yes... Big trouble..." he said.

Kaiya looked at him with eyes filled with fear and worry for her dear friends. She turned her head forward and continued to run.

Having arrived at the designated room, Chichiri immediately opened the doors, his staff ready in his hand.

"What is this?" Nuriko exclaimed, "What's happened to this room?"

"It's the demon world!" Chichiri answered.

"Is this _his_ doing?" Hotohori demanded.

"Taka and Miaka...!" Kaiya whispered.

Everybody ran forward, but stopped when they saw Taka pinned in the air with his arms spread and shirt open. One by one, the stones that they had worked so hard to obtain were pulled out and away from his body.

Kaiya turned her head, following the stones' paths, to see a strange man. His hair was long and white, reaching the ground and framing his black cloaked body. His eyes were a golden yellow, but his pupils were the shapes of a snake's (pupil-wise). His face was nearly as white as his hair and around his forehead was a ruby circlet.

The last stone came out of Taka and joined the others, swirling around the stranger.

Taka dropped to the ground and Miaka rushed to his side. She turned her head to the jewels that floated around her enemy, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.

Everyone watched in shocked horror.

"The jewels we worked so hard to get..." Kaiya murmured, wide eyed.

"Such a fragile man..." the stranger said, arms crossed over his chest, revealing long, red, claw-like fingernails. "To have given up his heart so easily to me."

Kaiya stared intently at the mysterious man, in a world of her own.

'His voice... it's familiar...' she thought.

Tasuki furrowed his brow in frustration and clenched his hand.

"That bastard, Tenkou..." he hissed.

'Tenkou?' Kaiya thought, diverting her head to Tasuki.

Tasuki ran forward to go through the hole they watched through, but was deflected by a purple energy when he reached the edge and fell back.

"It's a barrier..." Chichiri muttered, clutching his staff tighter.

Kaiya kneeled down to Tasuki, a worried expression on her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

Tenkou ignored the foolish attempts by the Suzaku Seven and stared mockingly at the two before him.

"Is this man really the reborn form of your beloved Tamahome?" he mused.

Miaka whirled around to face Tenkou, her face contorted in anger.

"Give them back!" she shouted.

Chichiri quickly slung his staff on his back, parted his legs and clasped his hands together with his forefingers pointing outwards, concentrating his energy through his hands to cast a spell.

"No, Miaka!" he shouted, "Don't let what he's saying get to you!"

"Chichiri! Can't you break through this barrier just a little?" Hotohori asked anxiously.

"Those jewels... They're the precious memories that Tamahome and I share..." Miaka said and rose to her feet. She took a few steps towards Tenkou, her face filled with angst and anger.

Tenkou continued to watch the girl, his confident expression unwavering. He brought one of the jewels in front of him and burst it into purple flames.

Miaka stopped mid-step, her eyes widening in shocked horror.

"One..." Tenkou said and burst another into flames

"Two..."

and another...

"Three..."

and another...

"Four..."

Tears filled the rim of Miaka's eyes and threatened to fall.

"No!" she screamed in anguish.

Chichiri furrowed his brow in concentration. He balled a hand into a fist with his thumb sticking up (thumbs up) and placed the base into his other hand's palm.

"Control your emotions, Miaka!" he shouted and shifted his hands so that his forefingers, thumbs, and pinkies were pressed against each other with his other fingers tucked away. "He draws strength from peoples' negative emotions!"

Kaiya stood up, facing the barrier.

"Miaka! You've got to be strong! Listen to Chichiri, please!" she begged her friend.

Tenkou recognized the voice and glanced towards them. He narrowed his eyes at the familiar girl.

"Ah, so the Mistress of Time is here, is she?" he muttered quietly.

"Lord Tenkou..."

Everybody's attention was drawn to a woman walking weakly towards Tenkou. The woman was Miisu, but her outfit was torn at the edges and was a bit ruffled.

Miisu took another step towards her lord.

"Why...?" she whispered.

Finally, Chichiri's efforts pulled through, and a rift opened in the barrier.

"The barrier!" Chiriko exclaimed.

Hotohori held his hands out in front of him and summoned his sword.

Nuriko stepped forward.

"Your highness! Let me take care of this!" he shouted. Taking the hilt of Hotohori's sword, Nuriko wound his arm back and thrust the sword forward into the rift, at Tenkou.

Everyone gasped in shock as Miisu was lifted and used as a shield for the oncoming sword. The sword stabbed through the middle of her body, and blood came rushing out.

Tenkou wore an evil smile on his face.

Miisu looked back at Tenkou with her shocked and pained expression.

"Lord... Tenkou..." she gasped.

"Miisu... In the end, this was the only useful purpose you could serve." he said, "Your mistake was thinking that casting the spell on Taka would be enough.

"I thought keeping Renhou alive would make you serve me better, but now I see that it only distracted you." Tenkou finished and dropped her to the ground.

Kaiya's eyes were wide with shock.

"He used her as a shield..." she whispered. "His own people...!"

Miisu braced herself up.

"M-my little brother... You said you'd help Ren!" she said weakly, "You said if we did what you wanted, you'd return us to normal!"

Tenkou glared down at her.

"You love Renhou that much?" he said, then raised a hand to his side, "Then be together in your last moments!"

Everyone turned their heads to see Ren materialize a few feet away from Miisu. He lay unconscious and his clothes were torn and tattered.

"Ren...!" Miisu cried. She pushed herself up on her feet, but immediately fell back down. She braced herself onto her knees and crawled weakly towards her brother. "Ren..! Ren...!"

Suddenly, Miisu burst into flames and Ren followed soon after.

The jewel on Tenkou's forehead glowed purple and his palm was raised with his thumb tucked in.

"I have no need for weaklings." he said calmly.

"You... You monster...!" Miaka whispered.

The flames died down and all that remained of Ren and Miisu were charred markings.

"In the end, their incestuous love led them on a path of evil. They thought I'd make them human again." Tenkou mused and lowered his arm. "An impossible dream for demons."

Miaka's shoulders began to shake and she glared at him with hatred.

"I won't let you..." she began.

"For the sake of something called love... Both lovers died a wretched death." he replied. "A preview of your own fate."

Miaka continued advancing towards Tenkou, her rage only growing more and more.

"Four of the stones have been destroyed; Taka himself will be destroyed."

"I won't let you!"

"He will die wounded."

Tenkou narrowed his eyes at her.

"I intend to show you just how powerless your "love" really is." he said and chuckled.

"Just what do you think humans are?" Miaka demanded. A red aura began to surround her.

"Yes... Grow enraged! Curse your fate! Hate me!" Tenkou encouraged. Miaka's red light began to grow stronger. "All of that is what gives me my power."

"I swear... I won't let you do this!" she shouted and released the energy she held within.

As Tenkou teleported himself away, he began to laugh, gaining more strength by the second.

As she watched him disappear, Kaiya heard his voice in her head.

_A view of your fate as well... You will make a fine servant... You have already served me well by bringing me back..._

Kaiya gasped as the voice disappeared. Her eyes were wide with terror.

'It's my fault..!' she realized.

The room returned to normal and everyone but Kaiya and Chichiri rushed to Miaka. Chichiri looked over at Kaiya and saw her trembling body and expression. He stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Kaiya snapped out of her nightmarish daze and stared at him. Her body stopped trembling, but her arms and hands did not.

"Kaiya, what's wrong, no da?" he asked.

"I-It's nothing... You should be more concerned with Miaka..." she said and looked over at her friend. "She'll be so down..."

"But what about you, no da? You seem to be quite shaken up..." he said with concern.

"I swear, I'm alright, Chichiri. If there's anything I need to tell you..." she said and hesitated with the last words. "I'll let you know. Let's go over to Miaka. She needs us right now..."

Kaiya forced a smile and walked away from him, letting his hand drop to his side.

Chichiri stared after her, a deep frown on his face.

'What's she hiding?' he wondered.

Morning came quickly and it was just about as depressing as the night before. Everyone had stayed with Miaka and Taka to comfort them during the night.

"Man, what a waste!"

Tasuki's enthusiastic voice boomed in everyone's ears. How he could not be worried was a mystery to them.

Everyone but Miaka sat around in the courtyard, unsure what to do next. Miaka had gone out, not far from the house, to be alone for the time being.

"If I was there, I woulda kicked ol' Tenkou's ass fer' ya!" Tasuki said.

Nuriko sat beside Chiriko, both staring at him with disbelief.

"Looks like he's over his wounds already." Chiriko said.

"He's just an idiot." Nuriko replied.

Tasuki turned his head to Taka, who was leaning against a beam of the house.

"Tama! Nothin' ta' worry about, ol' buddy!" Tasuki said. "There're still three more jewels out there! Ya didn't need those four anyway!"

"He isn't helping." Nuriko sighed.

Taka tried his best to smile at them.

"I'm not worried about it. I'm just fine, okay?" he said reassuringly. He pushed himself off the beam and began to walk away. "C'mon, quit getting worked up."

Everybody watched him walk away with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"This isn't going to beat me." he insisted and as he knocked his head on a low hanging tree branch. He began to lose his balance and began to step sideways. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" Next thing they knew, he fell into the pond which was coincidentally beside the tree. After a loud splash, he jumped right out and continued walking, laughing nervously." I'm alright! No problem!" Instead of walking, he began to jog slightly and hit the wall in the middle of the courtyard.

Tasuki stared blankly at Taka, not buying his act for a second.

"Ya' almost feel sad seein' the guy that broken up..." he muttered.

Nuriko came up behind him, an innocent look on his face.

"Tasuki, dear." he said.

Tasuki turned his head back to see what the purple haired warrior wanted.

Nuriko held up a little sign with a word on it.

"Can you read this sign?" he said sweetly.

"De-li-ca-cy." Tasuki answered.

"Right..." Nuriko said and threw the sign away. His expression turned to irritation and he materialized his gauntlets. "Do you have ANY?"

Nuriko picked him up and threw him into a hallow hall of the house (sue me. I don't know the word), past Kaiya, Chichiri, and Hotohori, to a wall.

They watched sympathetically as Tasuki crashed into the wall, leaving an imprint.

"We have to find some way to make him feel better, no da." Chichiri said sadly.

"Well, I'm afraid it's hopeless." Hotohori said reluctantly.

Kaiya frowned and tilted her head to the ceiling.

"I'm positive he'd feel better if we got those other stones... and Miaka too." she said.

"But the only clue to the other stones is held by Mitsukake..." Chichiri said, "and Nyan Nyan's looking for him, no da."

"Is that really our only hope now?" Hotohori asked. "If all of the Suzaku Seven are assembled, we might give Tamahome some strength."

"I think right now Miaka might be even more depressed." Kaiya said.

"Why is it?" Tasuki muttered, drawing everyone's attention. He sat cross-legged in front of his wall imprint and stared at his legs. "Why does she have to be tortured like this?"

"He makes her cry and hurts her, so why does she still love him?" he continued, then in a much quieter voice, "I don't get it. I just don't get it."

Elsewhere...

"Mitsukake!"

Mitsukake looked up to the sky form his seat on the porch of a house. It was a beautiful day and the house was where he had ended up after the ordeal on Mt. Taikyoku.

Tama perked up from his comfy spot beside Mitsukake, recognizing the voice.

"Nyan Nyan." Mitsukake acknowledged.

Nyan Nyan flew down towards them and landed on the ground.

"There you are!" she cried, "Your life force is so weak now!"

Suddenly, a little girl with light brown hair in two buns on either side of her head popped up behind Mitsukake. She was wearing a vermillion-red dress and she was smiling largely towards him. She looked no more than a year old.

Mitsukake turned his head towards her, answering the question she could not speak.

"Yes, that's my friend." he said.

Nyan Nyan stared at the girl, a little surprised.

"Mitsukake, that little girl can see you?" she asked.

"Shoka! Shoka!"

The little girl responded to her mother's call and began to move away.

Nyan Nyan turned to Mitsukake.

"Shoka?" she repeated.

"Yes. The child I died using my power to save." Mitsukake said.

With Kaiya...

Kaiya sat with Miaka under a tree on a low hill, just a bit away from the house. She had come to sit with the girl to try to cheer her up. It was already the middle of the afternoon and Miaka had not come to eat, which surprised everyone greatly.

Miaka was sitting with her legs up to her chest with her arms around them and her chin resting on her knees. Kaiya merely sat normally: her back against the tree, legs stretched out front and arms to the side. Both girls stared aimlessly at the city before them.

"I guess you're really depressed, huh, Miaka?" Kaiya started.

Miaka tilted her head to lean her forehead on her knees.

"Taka's going to disappear..." she said sadly.

Kaiya put a comforting hand on Miaka's shoulder

"Oh, come on, Miaka. You can't believe that! You two were always so happy together." Kaiya said, "You and Taka are meant for each other! I mean... we still have three stones to get, right?"

Miaka glanced up at her friend and made a small smile.

"Thanks for trying, Kaiya." she said sadly.

Kaiya face-vaulted.

"C'mon, Miaka! I'll make you and Taka a strawberry shortcake when we get back." she announced, throwing her arms in the air to make her point and completely forgetting about the curse.

Miaka brightened just slightly at the sound of food, but not enough to come out of depression.

"You're a good friend, Kaiya." she said.

Kaiya smiled at her.

"Just you wait and see, Miaka. You never know what'll happen." she said brightly and stood up. "I'm going back to the house. I'll see you later, Miaka."

The girls waved bye to each other, and Kaiya soon left.

Unbeknownst to them, Tasuki had listened to them from behind a nearby tree, but it didn't change his opinion about Taka. He began to walk back to the house with a pout.

'I just don't get it. If it was me...' he thought. 'If it was me, I wouldn't make 'er cry like that!'

Suddenly, he sensed a large energy. He stared up to see a big wave of water coming straight for him. But before he could do anything, the water lashed down at him, trapping him.

"What the hell?" he shouted. He winced when he felt something enter his body.

At the house...

The sun was already setting, decorating the sky in a variety of orangey colors. Chichiri, Chiriko, and Hotohori stood in one of the outer walkways of the house.

Chichiri had been conversing with the two about what to do next, when he sensed something, something familiar... and dangerous. Something he hadn't sensed in a long time. His brow furrowed at the danger and he whirled his head towards the direction he sensed it.

"What's wrong, Chichiri?" Hotohori asked.

Chichiri turned his head towards the sky.

"This energy..." he said, trailing off.

"Chichiri?" Chiriko said, looking at his bewildered face.

Kaiya came around the corner, staring at the ground in an intense stare. Her face was scrunched up in concentration with her hand gently grasping her chin and her elbow propped in her other hand's palm. She gave a sigh, then bumped into Chichiri.

"Whoops. Sorry, Chichiri." she said, snapping both herself and Chichiri out of their dazes.

"What seems to be troubling you, Kaiya?" Chiriko asked.

Kaiya looked past Chichiri to the youngest of the Suzaku warriors.

"Just trying to think of something to cheer Miaka up." she answered. "Not going too well I'm afraid. So what's going on with you guys?"

"There's trouble" Chichiri said seriously.

Kaiya tensed.

"Oh no..." she whispered, "Where's Miaka?"

"She hasn't returned yet, and neither have Tasuki or Tamahome, no da." Chichiri said.

"Maybe they sensed something and went to help her?" Kaiya said hopefully.

"We better go check, no da. Do you know where they might be?" he asked.

"Well, last I saw Miaka, she wasn't too far from here." she answered.

Chichiri nodded and Kaiya began to lead the way to the hill.

But when they arrived, Miaka was no longer there and there were no signs of Tasuki or Taka, nor a sign of a battle.

"Hm? There's no one here." Kaiya said.

"I'll try to locate them, no da." Chichiri said and began to concentrate. But something wasn't right. He turned to the group to tell them the news. "I can't find them at all, no da. Something or someone is jamming my senses."

Kaiya's worry doubled and her face showed it.

"Perhaps they have gone into town." Chiriko suggested.

"Yes." Hotohori agreed. "Let's try looking for them there."

Everyone nodded and headed to the town. Once there, they separated into two groups. Chichiri was with Kaiya and Hotohori was with Chiriko. Chichiri handed the two his straw hat.

"Alright, if you two find them, communicate through the hat. I put a spell on it so we'll be able to hear your voices." he said, "If we find them, we'll let you know."

With that done, everyone separated and began to look for Miaka and the others.

Every now and then, Chichiri would stop to see if he could find their energies, but with no luck, and continued searching.

The sun had set quickly and the night sky had already taken over.

"Oh... I hope we find them soon..." Kaiya said, "If I keep this up I'm gonna get gray hair and wrinkles and... and... I can't believe I'm thinking about myself when my friends are in danger!"

Chichiri stopped a few steps away and watched the female freak out. He couldn't help but smile at her. After watching her for a little longer, he walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, catching her attention.

"Don't worry, no da. We'll find them." he said reassuringly.

Kaiya smiled apologetically at him.

"Sorry. My mom keeps telling me I'll get gray hair and wrinkles in no time if I keep worrying the way I do." she said, "But I pray to the gods that I don't look like that Taiitsukun person..."

Kaiya shuddered at the thought.

Chichiri let out a chuckle.

"Well it just proves that you care about people a lot, no da." he said, "I also hear that your age goes by much faster, too. In fact, I think I already see a gray hair, no da!"

"What?" Kaiya exclaimed and began to freak out once more.

Chichiri suppressed his laughter but his expression did not go unseen. Kaiya playfully glared evilly up at him and put her hands on her hips.

"If I die before you do, old and ugly, I'm definitely gonna come back and haunt you 'til you have nightmares, and you can't take it anymore and come apologize to my grave." she said. "Ah, the joys of other people's guilt."

Chichiri had shrunken down to his chibi form and was shaking like a leaf.

Kaiya chuckled and waved a hand at him.

"Oh, c'mon, Chichiri! I didn't mean it." she said.

As Chichiri returned to normal, his eyes met with hers, and they began to laugh.

Strange how this one girl could make him feel the way he did and light hearted when no one else could. Strange how she could care so much for other people instead of herself... Strange how she was finding a way into his heart.

They stopped laughing soon after and stood in silent companionship.

"I think it's about time we went back to worrying about Miaka and the others." Kaiya said.

Chichiri nodded and their search continued.

The next place they reached was an inn and a few people were seen running out of it.

Chichiri and Kaiya looked to each other and rushed into the inn. The first thing they saw was Taka and he was injured. He leaned heavily on the banister of the stairs in front of them. Just in front of Taka, at the top of the stairs, was Tasuki with his white shirt hanging loosely around his arms. His left arm held Miaka tightly to him and his fan in the other. Miaka was not wearing her uniform jacket and her hair was down around her shoulders.

Tasuki kicked Taka off the stairs, sending him flying.

Kaiya instinctively gasped and ran forward up the stairs to catch him. He crashed into her and the two were sent falling and sliding to the base of the stairs.

"Ow...!" Kaiya groaned.

Chichiri rushed over to them.

"I've contacted his majesty and Chiriko, they should arrive soon." he said, then added with concern, "Are you two alright?"

"Just peachy..." Kaiya answered, sitting up, and helped Taka up as well.

Chichiri looked up with a scowl at Tasuki.

"What's up with Tasuki, no da?" he said, "He's never like that!"

"Kaiya... Please... Help me up the stairs." Taka said. He noticed her look at his injures but he shook his head. "Please..."

Kaiya nodded reluctantly. She put his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist. Slowly, they began to ascend the stairs. Taka turned his head up to look at Tasuki.

"You're right... I'm pathetic... Right now, I'm so weak... Like you said, all I do is make Miaka cry. And I'm nothing but scared of what's going to happen." he started, "But I love her; there's nothing I can do about that."

Tasuki stood silently as he watched Taka come closer.

"That's why, even if people laugh at me, and it hurts, and it's hard... and I don't look heroic, it doesn't matter to me!" he stated, "For Miaka, I'll be the most pathetic man there is."

"Besides, I'm still accepted as being one of the Suzaku Seven." he continued a little more cheerfully. "Even as I am now, you guys said I'm still one of you. You told me that with smiles on your faces!"

Tasuki continued to stand still, unsure of what to do.

"I was happy. Not just because of Miaka. Because you all were there, too! That's why..." Taka said, "Why I'm doing this."

Kaiya and Taka weren't far from Tasuki now, and Chichiri had come to help. Around his neck was Taka's other arm.

"My feelings for Miaka haven't changed." Taka concluded, "And if I'm to die, I don't mind if you do it. Kill me."

Kaiya gasped and whirled her head to him.

"Taka, you can't-!" she said, but stopped when she saw Chichiri shake his head. She stared at him with big, fear-filled eyes. "But why...?"

Tasuki smirked.

"Sure. I'll do just that." he said.

"Tasuki..."

Finally, they reached the top of the stairs and everybody gave their attention to Miaka. Miaka looked up at Tasuki with a small smile on her face.

"The reason I cry is because I love Taka." she said softly. "Girls just cry over the people they love when they're happy and when they're sad."

Tasuki's eyes began to tremble; he took a step back.

Kaiya got out from under Taka's arm and walked towards Tasuki. She gently took a hold of his unoccupied hand and smiled at him.

Chichiri glanced at the contact... hurting... slightly.

"I'm sure you'll find a girl for you some day, Tasuki." Kaiya said cheerfully. "Just don't ever forget who you are."

Suddenly, when she finished her last word, her hand began to glow pink. She noticed something leave his body and was going to take a look, but was stopped when Tasuki yanked his hand away and stepped even further back. His face was scrunched up and contorted as if he was in pain.

"I won't...! I won't...!" he struggled. He held his fan with both hands, his celestial symbol glowing brightly on his right forearm, and drove the top of the fan into the ground. "I won't betray my friends!"

The ground he stood on exploded and Kaiya flew back, down the stairs. Just as she was about to hit the ground, somebody caught her and gently set her down. Kaiya struggled to brace herself on her elbows. She saw Tasuki surrounded by flames and ifre flwoing down the stairs like a waterfall.

Kaiya began to feel a sharp pain inside her and her vision began to blur and blacken. The last thing she saw was the remainder of her time: three weeks and three days. She also heard somebody call her name, then finally, lost consciousness. The voice sounded very much like Chichiri's...

"Kaiya...!"

When she next awoke, she felt something nice and warm around her, and a warm cloth on her head. She opened her eyes and found herself in a bed in a dark room.

Kaiya sat up, the cloth falling from her head. She looked down at herself to make sure she wasn't naked this time, and to her relief, she was not.

"Ah, you're awake, no da!"

Kaiya looked over at the door to find Chichiri with a basin of water in his hands.

"Wha...? Chichiri, where are we?" she asked.

Chichiri walked towards her and set the basin down on the desk beside the bed. He then grabbed a chair and took a seat beside the bed.

"We're back at Nuriko's house, no da." he answered.

Kaiya's eyes widened in remembrance of what happened and she leaned forward.

"Is Tasuki okay? Are Miaka and Taka alright? Where are they? They're not injured, are they?" she asked quickly.

"Well, everybody is in another room, down the hall, no da. Last I saw Tasuki, he was apologizing to Miaka and Taka. They don't have many injuries and they're very minor anyway, no da. Mitsukake's taking care of those right now, no da." he finished, out of breath.

Kaiya leaned back in her pillow, relief washing over her.

"Thank goodness." she said, then gave him an apologetic gaze. "Sorry you have to stay with me. You can go if you want, Chichiri. I know you all have lots to talk about with Mitsukake."

Chichiri smiled at her and shook his head.

"It's alright, no da. You're a very nice person. I don't mind it at all." he said.

Kaiya rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly.

Suddenly remembering something, Chichiri's head perked up and his mouth made an "o" shape.

"Do you mind if I ask you something, no da?" he said.

Kaiya blinked.

"Of course not. Go ahead." she said.

He opened his mouth to speak but then he suddenly felt the very familiar energy from before, when they had gone to look for Miaka. After that, there came screams. Chichiri stood straight up, his brow furrowed.

"It's coming from down the hall!" Kaiya said and jumped out of her bed.

Chichiri decided to ask about the black character on her hand later. He knows now, at least, that it's not a drawing. Drawings don't normally glow, emit dark energies, or fill themselves up.

The two ran across the hall to the room everybody was in.

Chichiri's eyes widened in shock at the cause of the problem.

In front of him stood a man with dark blue hair, in little braids tied to the back of his head and brown eyes. He wore a circular jade stone with a hold in the middle with two beads on either side, and a little black string to keep it there on his forehead. He wore a tan and pink robe with golden squiggles on the lining. Behind him was what seemed to be a wall of water.

Kaiya caught Miaka beside the man, but she was trapped in a large bubble in mid-air.

'Miaka!' she thought worriedly.

"It's you...!" Chichiri shouted. "Hikou!"  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: Yay! It's finished! Took me forever to type this up. My chapters keep getting longer every time. I hope you'll be all glad to hear that I have new story ideas. But I won't start them 'til I finish this one. For me, I can't keep up with more than two things at a time. Until next time I update! Which will be quite a while.


	6. Chapter 6

Author Notes: Alright. I think it's about time I update this story. It took a while, just like a said. What I didn't say was that I've been occupied with school work and uh... Just plain reading for fun XD Truth be told, I did more reading than homework XP Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Hikou disappeared and mass amounts of water began to flood the room. The windows burst apart from the force of the water and everyone was forced to grab hold to something and keep firm.

"This is it! This came up behind me!" Tasuki shouted as he gripped Nuriko's hand.

"What's with this water? It's trapping us!" Nuriko exclaimed.

"It almost seems to be alive!" Hotohori observed.

Chichiri surfaced along with Kaiya with his arm around her waist and the other to keep them from being slammed to the wall.

"Hikou! Stop this!" he shouted. "Show yourself! Hikou!"

With one hand, Kaiya covered her mouth as she coughed up water and used the other hand to hold on to Chichiri.

"_Why... Why did you betray me, Hikou!_"

Everybody turned their attention to a spherical black and white projection in the middle of the room. In the projection, they could see two people, both men. One of the men appeared to be being attacked and the other was the attacker, a knife in the hand.

'I-It's Chichiri's voice!' Kaiya realized. She stared forward with wide eyes at the rage driven man. How could she believe it? As long as she'd known him, he'd never been anything but kind and he smiled always. But now as she saw with her eyes, the anger, the rage, the hurt... She wanted to do something for him; just something.

"_Give her back... Give her back!_"

"_Hou Jun...!_"

"Who are those guys?" Tasuki asked in bewilderment.

Chichiri continued to watch the scene, remembering it as if it were yesterday. His face was shocked speechlessness.

"Is that... Chichiri?" Taka said quietly.

Kaiya glanced up at the Chichiri beside her and her hand around him squeezed slightly.

They continued to watch, entranced by the display. Hikou's footing lost as the rock below him gave way to the water. He plunged downwards and luckily, his arm was caught by Chichiri.

"Stop it..." Chichiri whispered.

"Hou Jun!" Hikou shouted, but the grip on his arm was released, and he fell downwards... towards the water where it would be his grave.

"STOP IT!" Chichiri shouted in anguish.

The water parted for a strong stream of water to burst forth, making its way to Chichiri.

Kaiya shifted and moved so that she covered him, and received the blow instead. The two were blasted back, breaking a beam and landed on the ground of the parted water with a loud thud.

Chichiri was slouched against the wall, barely maintaining his consciousness, but the same could not be said about Kaiya. She lay on the ground beside him, but she was out cold.

"Chichiri! Kaiya!" Nuriko shouted.

"Chichiri... Or rather, Hou Jun..."

Their attentions were once again taken back to the front, but to where Miaka was in the bubble. The man, Hikou, that disappeared before now reappeared behind Miaka.

"Do you remember?" he said. "Eight years ago, that was how you killed me." The corners of Hikou's mouth shifted upwards slightly and all evil glint in his eyes. "That is why I'm going to take everything from you; everything that you now hold dear... I'm taking the Priestess of Suzaku." His eyes narrowed as he glared at Chichiri. "If you want her back, then come to me...

"Miaka!" Taka shouted and tried to move forward towards her, but it was no use.

"Taka!" Miaka cried and pounded a fist on the solid bubble that contained her. The bubble's exterior swirled rapidly with water and Hikou disappeared. It then shot up quickly, like a bullet, through the roof and out of their sight.

The remainder of the water poured out of the room and everybody was able to set their feet on the ground. Chiriko, Mitsukake, Hotohori, and Tasuki gathered around Chichiri while Nuriko remained with Taka.

"Chichiri..." Chiriko said softly.

"It's no use. He's unconscious." Hotohori said.

"How 'bout your end?" Tasuki asked, turning towards Nuriko.

"No good." Nuriko answered. "Looks like a basket case."

"I see..." Tasuki replied.

Elsewhere...

Tenkou leaned his back against a red wall, immersed within the blood-red liquid. He was in a very large and dark room, covered in nothing but the blood-red water and slabs of red walls spread out all around. He tilted his head back against the wall and smirked.

"It looks like Hikou was successful." he mused. "The Suzaku Seven... What fools they are..." He raised his hand above the water and glanced down at the little pool in his palm. "In the end, they've fallen right into my hands."

Back with the Suzaku Seven...

"Hold it, Taka! Wait!" Nuriko shouted as he held Taka from exiting the room.

"Lemme go, Nuriko! If I don't move fast, Miaka will be...!" Taka insisted.

"I know how you feel but there's nothing we can do right now." Nuriko reasoned.

"That's right, Tamahome." Hotohori admitted reluctantly. "First of all, we don't even know where they've gone, do we?"

Kaiya sat in a chair beside Chichiri, where he lay in his bed. She had luckily suffered nothing more than a large bruise and a sore shoulder, but she now sat worrying over her friend who was kidnapped and the man who lay unconscious in front of her. She glanced up at Chichiri's face, lingering on the scratchy scar over his eye that extended to the tip of his nose. Admittingly, she was surprised when she saw that it had always been a mask she was looking at.

"Couldn't we find that out if Chichiri was back in action?" Tasuki asked. "Hey, Mitsukake, can't you use your healing power to wake him up faster?"

"The shock he took damaged his spirit more than his body." Mitsukake replied. "He shouldn't be forced awake by another person." He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "We'll have to wait for nature to heal him for Chichiri's sake."

"I-I can't fight him..."

"Chichiri! You're awake!" Kaiya exclaimed, relief washing over her. She got out of the chair and let Mitsukake sit down.

"Are you awake now?" he asked.

Chichiri kept his eyes close, the memory still fresh in his mind.

"You saw it all, didn't you? How I killed my best friend." he said quietly. In his mind, remembered seeing the woman he loved, crouched over beside a wall with her hands at her eyes, swiping away the tears.

"_Forgive me, Hou Jun!_" she wailed "_I can't stay with you! I can't!_"

He remembered the shock of the realization, the hurt of the betrayal he felt.

"_You love... You love Hikou!? Why...? I trusted you both!_"

"The flood that happened then... took all the people that I loved." Chichiri said with grief. "My family... The woman I loved..." He opened his eye to stare at the ceiling. "But with Hikou, it's different. I... I just can't bring myself to kill him again." His eye closed and he turned away from the group.

"Chichiri... I lost my family in that flood as well." Mitsukake said. "But I still had Shouka with me. She saved my soul. But, as you already know, despite my powers... I still let her die - twice." he said sorrowfully. "And I hated myself for it. But now I understand very well why I was born with my powers." he explained in a calmer voice. "Not to hurt people, but to protect those I love. My friends here now are proof of that. And you are one of them."

Kaiya leaned slightly over the bed and smiled at Chichiri.

"So don't suffer alone. Just look to your friends for support!" she said encouragingly. "And surely, we'd just want to help." she said and held in a laugh as she turned to watch Nuriko shaking Tasuki fiercely with rivers of tears pouring down his face. "SURELY..."

"I know it's hard for you to reopen that wound." Mitsukake continued. "But isn't it time now? Time to set both your friend and yourself free?" he waited a few seconds for Chichiri to think it over before he continued. "You see that, don't you?"

"Forgive me, Chichiri." Taka spoke. "All you seem to do is save me. All I do is depend on you." he admitted. "But we all need you! Please, at least let me go after them!"

Kaiya stood straight immediately and whirled around to face Taka.

"No way! I want to save Miaka too!" she said, placing her hands on her hips. She let her hands drop though, when she heard Chichiri sit up in his bed. She turned back to face him and gave him a sympathetic look. "Chichiri..."

"I'll go!" Chichiri said with determination.

With Miaka...

Miaka slowly awakened with a flutter of her eyes. At first she did not recognize her surroundings, but quickly remembered the situation and the reason she was in a bubble. She looked around at the area; nothing but little cascades of water.

"Are you awake, Priestess of Suzaku?" Hikou asked, standing a small distance away from her.

"Hikou! Wait! Let me out of here!" Miaka pleaded.

Hikou scoffed and looked away from her. "Be quiet. Your friends will soon be coming for you. Assuming they aren't cowards."

"You're Chichiri's best friend, aren't you?" Miaka asked. "Why are you doing this?!"

Hikou scoffed again. "He isn't my friend at all." he said and decided to explain a little about himself. "I am now Kanki, one of the Four Great Kings of the Earth. The dark lord Tenkou had made me a demon god who controls drought and rain." His gaze wandered to the opening of the cave, to the rain falling just outside. "Look at it outside of this limestone cave, at the water to which I have given life. I believe this power could even reach into your own world now."

Miaka's eyes widened in fear and surprise.

"What?" she asked.

"I didn't kidnap you just to lure Chichiri here." he said, as if stating the obvious. "I can influence the other world by using your body as a medium. The water born of my wings will rob people of their reason, bring out the evil within them." he then smiled evilly at the remembrance of his already successful experiment. "Tasuki demonstrated that quite well."

Miaka grit her teeth and rested her head against the bubble wall.

"I'll cast that spell on all the humans there." Hikou said aloud. "After I kill Chichiri and the rest of the Suzaku seven!"

"I won't let you!" Miaka said instinctively. "Chichiri and my friends won't be beaten by you!"

Hikou gave a small laugh.

"'The love of friends'? It's nothing but an illusion." he said.

Back with Chichiri...

Night had befallen and he was now fully prepared to face his battle. He figured this was the perfect time to leave, since everyone was out trying to stop the water from entering the town. Or at least, he thought everyone was out. He gathered his staff and exited the room, planning to save Miaka himself. But like all noble and honour worthy quests, it wasn't meant to happen, because Tasuki caught him exiting his room.

"You know where they are, don't you?" he stated, leaning against the wall. He pushed himself off and faced Chichiri. "I'm goin' too, no matter what you say."

Chichiri didn't turn around, just listening to what Tasuki had to say.

"I... What Hikou did to you... is what I was gonna do to Tama. The thing is..." Tasuki trailed off and walked up beside Chichiri. "The thing is... They don't blame me at all. I always thought of Miaka like a sister, but... I'm a man, too. I never thought feelin's that low were inside of me." he said in a low voice. "I... I don't care if I die. If it's for those two, then I..."

Chichiri finally shifted to face Tasuki, and placed a hand on his head.

"No person is ever really complete, you know?" he smiled slightly and looked ahead. "That's why nobody can ever really live alone." he made a resolution and continued to speak. "Alright, Tasuki. The two of us will save Miaka!"

Just then, Taka walked out of the barely lit hallway, having listened to the conversation.

"Three's better than two, right?" he said.

"I may not be able to save you this time." Chichiri said, but allowed him to come. He raised his staff and began to manipulate his energy to send them where they were needed.

"Wait for me!"

Kaiya jumped off the railing above them and disappeared along with them.

Back with Miaka...

Water began to fill up her bubble, cutting off the supply of oxygen she needed. He had just given her a vision of the effects of his spell on Yui, to prove his point, but it was no use. Yui did not do as he expected, but rather, the opposite. Now obviously, Hikou wasn't pleased with the outcome.

'The water...!' Miaka panicked.

"Yes. Suffer. That was how my human life had to end!" Hikou said grudgingly. "At the hands of a man I thought was my friend!" Suddenly, he sensed a familiar energy and averted his attention from Miaka.

A bright green energy force burst forth and the water was thrown all over, soaking Hikou. Through the mist of the water, Hikou could see clearly the fierce look that Chichiri was giving and the fighting position he was in.

Tasuki, Taka and Kaiya came to stand behind him.

"Miaka!" Taka shouted.

Miaka opened an eye to look at the people who had come to save her.

'Taka! Tasuki! Chichiri! Kaiya!' she thought.

"Hikou!" Chichiri said, lowering his arms. "Release Miaka! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise you'll do WHAT?" Hikou interrupted.

"The most important things in my life now the friends I have." Chichiri said and continued. "And to save them... I will kill you!"

"Fascinating..." Hikou said with a solemn expression. "Then you'll have to do it before the Priestess of Suzaku drowns."

"Chichiri! We'll handle Hikou! Save Miaka!" Taka said, and ran towards Hikou.

Tasuki remained where he stood and jabbed his fan into the ground, causing flames to burst out towards Hikou. But that was no use, for Hikou summoned up a water wall, disabling the fire.

"No good! Another water wall!" Tasuki exclaimed.

Hikou's water wall came down. He merely laughed and with a swift motion of his hand, the water receded back into tall waves. With another hand motion, the water was sent forward, like large bullets, at the warriors.

"Tasuki! Tamahome!" Chichiri shouted, but quickly realized that Kaiya was not there. 'Wha- Where did she go?!' he asked himself frantically. But his attention had to be taken back when he heard Hikou muttering something, realizing it was a spell. He raised his staff and began to mutter his own words for a spell. "Ban bukyuu chou hou na hobaku!"

"Chichiri! No! Don't fight your friend!" Miaka screamed as best she could through the water.

"Miaka! Psst, Miaka!"

Miaka glanced down to see Kaiya. She bent down to meet her friend's face and smiled with relief.

"Kaiya! What're you doing here?" she asked.

"The guys were causing a big distraction so I thought I'd just see if I could get you out." Kaiya said simply and smiled. She placed her palms on the bubble and quickly examined it to see if there were any spots that might break upon rough contact. Seeing none, she scowled. "Don't worry, Miaka, I'll definitely get you out." She began to bang on the bubble which hurt her hand more than it hurt the bubble, she was sure. 'What is this thing made of? It's like glass! Only it won't break!'

"Kaiya, wait! Stop! You've got to stop Chichiri!" Miaka said.

"When I get you out, we'll both stop him!" Kaiya said determinedly and banged harder. Her hand became extremely sore and she paused to think and catch her breath. 'Maybe I can... use my powers!' her head jerked up quickly to stare at the tough bubble. 'But how...?' She glanced at Chichiri, who was concentrating his energy into a shield to defend himself from Hikou's water bullets. 'Hey, that's it! I'll just focus, like Chichiri does!' Her head whipped back to Miaka and she closed her eyes in focus.

Miaka glanced down at Kaiya, finding her friend's posture peculiar.

'What's she doing?' she wondered, then gasped as the area Kaiya's hands covered began to glow pink. Just as a tiny hole formed in the bubble wall, the magic stopped and it closed. Kaiya was abruptly pushed against the bubble and a very bright white light shone behind her.

Kaiya and Miaka looked back just in time to see Chichiri's blast through Hikou's attack and directly at him.

"Incredible..." Taka muttered.

"No shit..." Tasuki replied.

"Chichiri...!" Hikou hissed with an angry scowl.

"Chichiri..." Miaka whispered. "Hikou, stop this! Can't you see that Chichiri still cares for you?! Don't you see how this is hurting him?!"

"SILENCE!" Hikou shouted.

Kaiya stared at Hikou, her brows knit together in sympathy.

'You idiot... You were - no... You are his friend. Why don't you understand that?' Kaiya thought. The pink mark on her left hand continued to glow, but she paid no attention to it.

Once again, Hikou began to mutter some words. His hands were held out and began to glow blue.

"Hikou..." Chichiri muttered. He used his left hand to make some hand signs, making a spell of his own.

In front of everyone's eyes, Chichiri threw his cape up and disappeared.

"What?" Hikou exclaimed as he felt arms around his own, trapping him. The cape circled around them, encasing them in a fabrical sphere.

"Tasuki!" Chichiri shouted within. "Use your flames on my robe! Concentrate everything on burning the robe! If you do that, we'll break the water wall and the flames will reach inside!"

Kaiya's hands flew up to clasp around her mouth, and gasped at the suggestion that Chichiri was bringing up.

"Wha... What're you talkin' about? If I do that, then you'll...!" Tasuki said.

"Hurry! If you don't, then Miaka will...!" Chichiri shouted but stopped short as water filled the space and began to swirl around them, causing a great amount of water pressure.

"Yeah... But...!" Tasuki said slowly.

The water pressure began to build, ripping Chichiri's shirt to shreds..

"My body can't take this water pressure much longer!" Chichiri said, then screamed, "Do it, Tasuki! DO IT!"

Tasuki stared forward, remembering the sacrifice Chiriko had made for them that time ago in order for them to summon Suzaku.

"It's happening all over again. God damn it!" he hissed and squeezed his eyes shut. His hands on his fan shook with uncertainty and fear. "God damn it!"

"Taka...!" Miaka said weakly, unable to keep up her conscience any longer. "Save Chichiri...!"

Taka stared speechlessly. He knew the decision he was going to make, but it would be at the cost of his friend.

"Tasuki." he said, and their eyes met. Though no words were spoken, his trust in Tasuki was known.

Tasuki's resolve solidified and he steadied his grip on the fan.

"Run, Tama!" he shouted and concentrated his power into the fan. "Rekka..."

'Oh no!' Kaiya thought and on impulse, she ran towards Chichiri. The glow from her left hand glowed more and more brightly until it covered her and spread outwards, slowing everything but her.

"Shien!" Tasuki finished as time resumed its normal speed. Fire spiralled around the fabric bubble, quickly spreading towards the content inside as well.

Taka punched through the barrier and went through to Hikou.

"Im... possible...!" Hikou gasped. "How could I be defeated by this children...?!" Hikou's form blackened and began to dissipate.

Chichiri watched in dismay as his dear friend was once again taken away from him.

"Hikou..." he whispered.

Kaiya sat on the ground beside him with her body hunched over and her head bowed down. Her powers had ceased working now and she was trying to endure the pain of the curse. One hand clutched the fabric over her chest tightly while the other braced herself up.

"I'm sorry, Chichiri..." she said quietly.

The bubble containing Miaka popped and Taka quickly caught her. She coughed up some water but she was alright.

"Miaka's alright!" he announced happily, then turned his head to Tasuki. "We did it, Tasuki!"

Tasuki sat on the ground for his legs were too nerve wrecked to actually keep him standing and he still gripped his fan with white knuckles.

"'We did it!' Sure... Damn my nerves..." he said weakly. "I thought I was gonna have a heart attack, you jerk!"

Not long after, Kaiya, Miaka, Tasuki, and Taka had moved away from Chichiri and Hikou, knowing that the two needed to talk everything out.

Kaiya stood alongside everyone else, waiting for Chichiri to finish and wondering what they were saying, but could probably assume correctly anyway. She had managed to pull Chichiri out at the last second and afterwards everyone asked if she was okay, and of course, she replied she was fine. But really, her life expectancy was short and getting shorter. Two weeks and three days to be exact.

Hikou lay on his back in the water, his body nearly transparent and looked like water.

"Why are you holding my hand?" Hikou asked in a tired voice. His anger no longer controlled him and for once in eight years, he was able to see clearly.

"Because I'm not letting go of it this time." Chichiri answered simply. He did all he could to control himself and not break down right there into tears.

Hikou smiled softly.

"You're still such a nice guy." he mused. "That's why... she loved you."

"Hikou..." Chichiri said quietly and tightened his grip slightly.

"You really thought she had betrayed you?" Hikou asked, remembering the cause of everything that had gone wrong. "I never meant to steal her from you." he said guiltily. "It's just... just once... just once I wanted to hold her in my arms; feel the softness of her lips, the warmth of her skin..." he admitted and grimaced. "She valued faithfulness so much... She felt that being touched by another man even once meant she didn't deserve to be with you. Can't say I didn't understand her reasoning though..." he sighed. "Yeah, I was the one who wrecked it all. I deserved to die. But I hated you, and let a demon possess me. And for the sake of a fool like me, you were...!" He looked at Chichiri's scar now. "If she were to see that scar... She'd be shocked."

"That time, I let go." Chichiri started and felt the tears build up behind his eyes. "But I should have held on!" He closed his eye and let the tears flow freely down his cheek. "No matter what, I should have held onto you!" he cried. "When I saw the life leave you in that water, I felt... I couldn't move. If I had the powers I have now, I'd have...!"

"Oh, what fools we were." Hikou said. "Could real best friends ever be so quick to distrust each other?"

"What are you saying?!" Chichiri asked harshly. "You're my dearest friend, even now! And you always will be!" he vowed. "I loved you! I always loved you! That's why... That's why...!"

Hikou stared up at Chichiri for a few seconds before glancing at Kaiya, then back.

"Hou Jun, for your sake, I must warn you to stay away from the Mistress of Time." he said, but he was unable to maintain his form any longer, and collapsed.

"Wait, Hikou!" Chichiri cried in anguish as Hikou's hand trickled out of his.

"_To water, I return, Hou Jun... Forgive me..._"

"I am _really_ pissed off!" Nuriko said as Mitsukake began his healing on Chichiri.

Kaiya and the others had returned shortly after Hikou had disappeared and awaiting them were the rest of the warriors, who were shocked and somewhat none too pleased with the fact that Chichiri left without them. But hey, even though the fact that Chichiri nearly died, was shredded to bits, and was going to leave everyone behind, they were all happy he was back safe and sound. They'd brought Chichiri to a fairly small room and everyone crowded around him in relaxation except for Tasuki and Taka whom were sleeping like logs.

Chichiri sat at the back of the small room with his back against the wall. Kaiya sat beside him with Miaka beside her, and Mitsukake kneeling down on his other side, healing him. In front of Miaka, Nuriko sat at a small table, and beside Mitsukake, Hotohori and Chiriko were standing.

"As am I!" Hotohori agreed.

"That was really cold of you, Chichiri!" Chiriko said haughtily.

"Guys, quit teasing him." Miaka said with amusement.

Mitsukake laughed.

"We're all happy you made it out alright." he said. "We're just being a little sarcastic with you. The water in the town's receding as well."

"Well done, Chichiri." Hotohori praised.

"It was a lot of work stopping a flood..." Nuriko fussed.

"You're really good at that kind of work, Nuriko!" Chiriko complimented.

"Well, I guess." Nuriko answered modestly, then changed the subject to Taka and Tasuki. "Are those two asleep?"

"Out like lights." Kaiya replied brightly.

"This time, I'm the one who owes them." Chichiri said, smiling. "If they hadn't been there..." Suddenly sensing an evil presence behind the door, he immediately came to his guard. "Who's there?!"

Everybody became alarmed and stood up. Chichiri used his powers to open the door and took a step forward, but soon felt blood coming out of his left cheek.

"Everyone, don't move. This room is booby-trapped with dangerous wires. Even the slightest movement could mean death." he warned.

But Kaiya wasn't listening. She was far too busy paying attention to the person at the door. And because she wasn't listening, her hands came up to close around her mouth, finding though that the air was caught in her throat. Her legs felt wobbly and she collapsed to the floor in a sitting position.

Chichiri glanced at Kaiya, noticing the movement. The wires shined in the moonlight slightly and he noticed that she was the only one who was not surrounded by them. In fact, the wires appeared to make some sort of path to the door and person. But why? Why would there be a path? He could see that her hands were clasped at her mouth and she looked like she'd seen a ghost. He then glanced at Miaka as well. Miaka had nearly the same reaction, but it was not as strong as Kaiya's.

"What's wrong, Miaka? Kaiya? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Nuriko observed in the corner of his eye.

In the doorway, stood a boy with spiked brown hair on his left side (think Trowa from Gundam Wing) and blue eyes. He wore a white dress shirt with a red tie, and grey breeds (these are supposed to be pants...). His hands were in his pockets and he was smiling that kind of evil smile that said, "I know something that you did and I'm going to kill you."

But who cares about that? He was her boyfriend for practically her whole life. That day she thought he died, and here he was alive again! Or just alive! Who knows if he really died? Maybe that was just a dream.

Kaiya swallowed the lump in her throat and could feel the tears of happiness spring to her eyes. She wiped them away with her sleeve and finally, she managed to get a grasp on her air to say something.

"Kenji…! Oh, Kenji…!" she cried. "I thought you were dead!"  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: Yay! I'm done! I'm happy. I feel I should tell you guys that I skipped a few things in this chapter, mostly because I didn't think they were important. But I dunno if that gives this chapter a hurried feeling or not. If it does, just lemme know and I can probably fix it. Again, I hope I haven't been speeding up Chichiri and Kaiya's relationship too fast. If they are going too fast, for the love of god, let me know and I'll use a stick to whack their hands off each other before they reach sex. Oh, and the way that Kaiya nearly got Miaka out of thar bubble and Chichiri out was that she used her powers to reverse the time of the selected object. Kinda like she isolated something and did something. She can do that. XP Please comment. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. Bye!


	7. Chapter 7

Author Notes: Alright! Another chapter! I just recently came up with a new idea for this chapter but I'm not sure how to make everything flow together. Hopefully it'll just work. Ha ha. Enjoy the chapter!  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Chichiri glanced from Kaiya to the man in the doorway, who was apparently known as Kenji, and appears to have had a close relationship with her... Or he was a close family member... But he highly doubted that.

"Ha ha. It feels like I haven't seen you in forever, Kenji." she said happily, wiping away here tears. "How'd you get here? How'd you know where to find us? You, me, Miaka, and Taka should all hang out again. I've made new friends too. You can meet them all."

Kenji merely smiled and held his hand out.

"Yeah." he said. "Let's go somewhere to talk, huh?"

"Yeah, sure." Kaiya said and stood up.

"Kaiya, no!" Chichiri said abruptly. "I sense a dark presence from him. He's dangerous!"

Kaiya was already more than half way to the door when she stopped to face him. The smile on her face faded and was replaced with shock and fear.

"What?" she said quietly. But before he could answer her, she felt her arm being forcibly grasped and her body being pulled away.

"Kaiya!" Miaka and Chichiri shouted.

Next thing she knew, she was looking down at the small building's roof, connected to the palace, and growing smaller by the second and she was flying!

If she wasn't in shock before, boy was she in shock now. She could barely see the palace now and she was shifted in somebody's arms so that her body was hugged to theirs. She stared at the large, silver, steel-like wings that had sprouted from the back. She stared silently for a few seconds at the base of the wings, where they created two holes in the white shirt. Finally, she glanced up at the one whisking her away. He... LOOKED like Kenji, but his teeth appeared bigger, especially the canine teeth, and his hair was dishevelled. His skin had a grayish hue and his eyes were completely black. The contour lines on his face showed that he was strained.

Kaiya gasped silently and she reached a hand up slowly to touch his face.

"Kenji..." she said, almost whispering. "What happened, to you?"

Kenji bore his teeth in setting his jaw. Using one hand to carry her, he brought the other one up to hold hers in a tight grip. She could see now that his hands had also changed. His nails were longer and sharper and were also a shade darker than his skin, to match it.

"I... know I'm not good to look at..." he ground out and squeezed her hand tighter, but not enough to hurt.

Kaiya squeezed his hand back and shook her head.

"That's not what I care about." she replied, but decided to change the subject, seeing as they were getting even farther away from the others. "Kenji, what's going on? Where are you taking me? Why are we going away from the others? I want to know what this dark presence Chichiri sensed is." she said all at once. "Kenji, tell me, please."

Kenji turned his head to look at her and his brows knit together in anguish.

"I... I can't." he said. He released her hand and held her tighter to him, as if she would disappear if he didn't have his arms around her.

"Kenji... What's going on?" she whispered to herself.

Back with Chichiri...

"What the hell is going on here?" Tasuki demanded as he opened the bedroom doors to where everybody else was. He couldn't quite figure out why they were all standing, facing the same expression, and had expressions that showed that he slept through something important and woke up only to the large ruckus outside.

"Tasuki, don't come into the room!" Chichiri warned quickly as Tasuki took a step forward. "There are sharp wires all over the room and you can't see them unless they shine in the moon. Use your fan to get rid of them."

Tasuki grunted in acknowledgement and went back into the bedroom to retrieve said fan.

Taka remained at the doorway and cast a worried look at Miaka.

"Miaka, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes... But Kaiya's gone." she replied. "Kenji... He took her."

Taka was suddenly alarmed, familiar with the name and person.

"But he's...!" he started.

Tasuki returned with the fan and quickly burned the wires away.

Everybody's positions relaxed into more comfortable stances.

"So who is this Kenji guy exactly?" Nuriko asked.

Taka came to stand behind her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Kenji was Kaiya's boyfriend." Miaka replied, and closed her eyes. "He was in an accident and she was heart broken when he didn't make it."

Noticing something on the floor, Chichiri walked over to it and bent down to pick it up. It was some kind of feather and he held it by the stem in his thumb and forefinger. He turned it around and around, noting that it looked like an ordinary feather, but it was a solid gray color and looked like metal. He brought his other hand up to touch the feather's edge with his thumb, but found that the feather was incredibly sharp and it cut his thumb. He also noticed that the feather was giving out a bit of energy, the same as Kenji's second form.

It was very strange. Usually, people have the same kind of energies all the time, but with Kenji he had two different kinds. When he was human, his energy felt calm, but dark. His second form, however, was sort of the opposite; it felt savage and fierce. If that was the case, finding them while he was in his second form was easier. If Kenji decided to switch back to his first form, with the distance between them, it would be smaller and more difficult to locate.

"Hey, Chichiri, what'd'ya find?" Tasuki asked as he walked towards the monk.

Ignoring Tasuki, Chichiri focused his energy on finding Kaiya and Kenji. When he could feel their presences, he teleported away immediately.

"Hey, wha-!" Tasuki exclaimed.

"He's gone! Again!" Nuriko said.

"I hope Kaiya will be alright..." Miaka said worriedly.

"Kenji won't do anything to hurt her. I'm sure of it..." Taka said.

Back with Kaiya and Kenji...

"Kenji, let's go back!" Kaiya said for the fifty-billionth time.

"We can't!" he replied for the same amount of times.

"Why NOT?!"

And silence was the answer every time she asked.

"You never listen to me..." she said quietly in a bitter voice.

"Kaiya, I didn't mean- " he started, but wasn't able to finish for something large and cloth-like fell on top of him, cutting off his sight. He stopped abruptly in flight and flapped his wings madly. "What the hell!"

Kaiya became scared and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Unfortunately, the cloth was also interfering with his wings and he was not able to stay in the air much longer. She began to scream as the ground was fast approaching them. Before fainting, she felt somebody's hands taking her arms from around Kenji, then arms below her knees and around her shoulders.

Chichiri landed softly on the ground. He had landed on the outskirts of a forest, with a cliff jutting out in front, and the forest behind them. Shortly after him, Kenji plummeted to the ground, landing on the cliff.

Kenji struggled to get up and when he did, he pulled the cloth off his head and threw it down. He glared angrily at Chichiri and bared his teeth. He then looked at Kaiya in Chichiri's arms, and he became even angrier.

"Give her back." he growled menacingly. "She's mine!"

Chichiri gently lay her on the ground and stood up, narrowing his eye in a glare. He pulled his staff from his back and set the bottom on the ground.

"She's not an object." he said and began to walk towards Kenji. "I can't give her to you. You're too dangerous to be near her."

Kenji snarled and brought out his claws.

"I'd never hurt her!" he insisted.

Chichiri stopped about five meters away from Kenji and placed his staff in both hands and held it in front of him.

"Your wings are razor sharp. What if she had touched them? She'd have at least half her finger cut off!" Chichiri stated. "And your claws are dangerous as well. What if you had accidentally dropped her in mid-air?"

"I would never hurt her!" Kenji said more fiercely flapped his wings to lift off the ground, then charged at Chichiri with his claws in front. His claws clashed with Chichiri's staff and the force of the charge managed to push him back a little bit, but Chichiri kept his ground.

Kenji backed off and charged again, then repeated. Chichiri focused his energy and launched it when Kenji was retreating from his charge. Kenji fell to the ground, but quickly got to his feet again. He spanned his wings and launched a flurry of steel feathers at Chichiri. Chichiri charged his energy and fired energy balls at the feathers, but it was no good. The feathers cut straight through them and continued on their path. Chichiri's eye widened and he quickly teleported away, reappearing high in the sky.

"Like you said, they're razor sharp." Kenji said with a smirk. "They can cut through anything." He launched another flurry of feathers and Chichiri teleported back to the ground where Kenji charged at him again, once more clashing with his staff.

Kaiya slowly regained consciousness to the sounds of the clash of metal against metal. She pushed herself up into sitting and turned her head in the direction of the sound. She stood up quickly when she realized it was Chichiri and Kenji who were fighting.

"Stop!" she shouted.

"Kaiya!" they both said.

Noticing Chichiri's momentary distraction, Kenji quickly backed off and flew towards Kaiya. But Chichiri got to Kaiya first via teleportation and swung at him with his staff. Kenji crossed his arms in front of him, but was pushed back by Chichiri.

"Chichiri, stop!" she cried. She rushed to step in front of Chichiri before he did anything else and grabbed his arms. "Stop!"

Chichiri looked down her anguished expression and really did want to stop. But his eye widened again as he saw four feathers aiming at him.

"Look out!" he shouted. Wrapping his arms around her, he evaded the feathers and landed on the ground to their left side.

Kenji grew blood-thirsty as he witnessed the awkward position that they were in. His blood boiled as he remembered another time, just like this.

Kaiya stood up with Chichiri's help and turned to face Kenji.

"Kenji, I want you to stop!" she insisted. "Chichiri's my friend!"

"I'll kill you!" Kenji roared and charged towards Chichiri.

"Wait-!" she shouted, but Chichiri stepped in front of her with his staff in his hand.

A gust of wind blew through, causing the tree's to rustle and shake.

"Stop it, right now!" she screamed as loudly as she could. The pink character appeared on her left hand and began to glow.

Kenji was slowed to a stop in mid-air, his thirst for blood expression remaining.

Chichiri blinked and relaxed his stance. He looked around and noticed that not only had Kenji stopped moving, everything else had stopped moving as well. He could feel the warm glow of his Suzaku character on his right knee, letting him know it was activated.

'Everything's... stopped!' he thought in alarm. He then saw Kaiya walk forward, her left hand glowing pink. 'Time...' he realized. 'has stopped... She is... the Mistress of Time...'

Kaiya stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around Kenji's neck, burying her face into the juncture between his neck and shoulder. She then released her hold on time.

Kenji realized immediately that there were arms around him and stopped abruptly in the air with a powerful flap of his wings, creating gusts of wind on the ground. Notcing she was barely hanging onto him, he landed gently on the ground with her arms still wrapped around him.

"I want you to stop, okay?" she ground out as her black character began to glow on her right hand.

"You idiot..." he said and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He glared at Chichiri. "You used your powers... Didn't you? Stop protecting that guy...!"

Chichiri remained where he had before. He noticed the little black glow, the same as before, and took a step forward.

Kenji tightened his grip around her and bore his teeth at Chichiri.

"Stay away!" he shouted.

"How do you know about them...?" Kaiya asked quietly as the glow died down; only six days left.

But Kenji ignored her and continued to snarl and glare at Chichiri, who was still walking to them. His wings spread out in a warning, and it seemed to work, for Chichiri stopped in step and held his staff firmly.

"I told you to stop!" Kaiya said. Her grip around him loosened and she had to press against his arms to pull back slightly and look up at him.

Kenji merely growled and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"It's like that time, huh...? When you were with that... other guy." he said bitterly.

"What?" Kaiya said alarmed, also remembering the time he was referring to. "No! You didn't understand! I wasn't with him!"

"You're lying... I saw it! I saw him on top of you! I saw everything!" he screamed at her with wide eyes.

Kaiya stood motionless and stared at him with disbelieving eyes. She was at a loss of words.

Chichiri stood, stunned, not believing what he'd just heard. His pose had relaxed and his hands had dropped to his side. The staff he held in his hand dropped to the ground.

In one swift, powerful motion, Kenji felt the contact of a hand meet with his cheek. Shocking him so much, he'd lost his anger, returning to his original form; the human Kenji. His head was facing the side, and his blue eyes were wide with shock. After a few seconds, he turned his head to stare at her, his cheek already developing a red swell.

She was mad. Hell, mad wasn't even a good enough word to describe what she was feeling right now. Her eyes were wide with blazing anger, her lips pressed into a thin white line. Her hand had already retracted from the slap and now lay at her side. Her body was straight and stiff, filling with more and more anger.

"Listen to me, for just ONCE!" she shouted. "You never listen to me! You completely avoided and ignored me after that day! Do you know how I felt? Do you know how UPSET I was?!" she screamed and narrowed her eyes at him. "You want to know the truth?! FINE! Well here it is! I was RAPED!" she shouted and turned away from him.

Kenji felt a sword stab his chest. Not a real one, of course, but it may as well be, 'cause the pain was all the same.

Kaiya turned her head to him, glaring at him with rage.

"Are you listening to me, now?! That's the truth!" she exclaimed. "I was raped!" she stated again, just so that she made sure he heard it perfectly, damn, clear. "You avoided me! You ignored me! You left me! I tried to tell you, but NO! You didn't want to hear it! You thought I went behind your back! If you really loved me, you would have trusted me! You would never have did what you did!" she said, screaming. "Do you know how much I cried, when you..." she started and swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes hazing over. "When you died...?! I didn't ever get a chance to tell you what happened...! And you came back...! And I thought I could have that chance... But you still didn't listen to me..." she said more quietly. "I hate you...!"

Kenji lifted his hand slightly, but laid it back down again.

"Kaiya... I... I... I didn't mean... I had no idea... I mean..." he started.

"You know..." she interrupted, turning her body so she faced him. "I don't know why I ever loved you in the first place. You ignore me, you don't listen, you try to kill my friends... You don't even tell me what's happening with you... You're different, Kenji. You've changed. I don't know who you are anymore." she said with a sad smile. Her smile faded and her anger boiled slightly. Her voice rose, "I just... I don't love you anymore. .. You're not the man I fell in love with."

Kaiya whirled around and began to run towards the forest. Chichiri caught her in his arms as she tried to move past him and struggled to get free.

"Kaiya...!" Chichiri said in a whisper.

"Chichiri, let go, please." she insisted. His arms tightened around her, and she began to struggle more, pushing against chest, trying to open his arms.

"I won't..!" he replied. His hold on her slipped, and he received a slap to the face.

Kaiya stood her ground with her hand still raised in the air. Her eyes were still hazed, her brows shaking slightly for control to unleash her anger out on him too. She lowered her hand and turned away. She continued to run to the forest, and disappeared into the trees and bushes.

Unable to stand on his wobbly knees any longer, Kenji collapsed to his knees. His posture was slacked and his head was bent down in shame as tears flowed down his face in torrents.

"She has a right to be angry with me..." he said with a shaky voice. "I'm... unforgivable..."

Recovering from the shock of the slap, Chichiri picked up his staff and sat beside Kenji, letting the staff rest on his shoulder. He tilted his head to stare at the orange sky that indicated the sun was rising and they sat in silence for a few seconds until Chichiri spoke up.

"She has quite the punch... er slap..." he murmured.

Kenji gave a cracked chuckle.

"You want to sit here with me? I just tried to kill you..." he said, turning his tear streaked face towards Chichiri.

Chichiri remained silent, but stayed where he sat.

Kenji turned his head back to stare at the ground. He shifted so he sat cross-legged, and rested his elbow on his knee and his forehead in his palm.

"Do you... Do you love her?" Kenji asked, turning his head to face Chichiri.

Chichiri quickly lowered his head to look at him.

"I-I-I... What?" Chichiri stammered, dumbfounded by the question.

Kenji wiped his tears away with the heel of his palm and he couldn't help but give a small laugh.

"Do you love her?" he repeated.

A moment of silence dropped between them as Chichiri searched for his answer.

"I... Dunno, no da." he replied finally.

Kenji gave another small laugh.

"Don't kid yourself..." he said. "Somebody asked me that question too and you look just like me." He turned his head to stare at the ground again as fresh tears started down his face. "I can't believe she even loved me. I can't believe I screwed it up!"

Chichiri now stared at the ground as well, half listening, half trying to figure out if he really did love her.

"He was the most popular guy in school... All the girls loved him... Even the girls who already had guys... But Kaiya always stayed with me. She didn't even look at him." Kenji said. He craned his neck to stare at the sky and smoothed his hair back. "Then, I saw them together... Doing things I'm not going to repeat... First thing I did was beat the shit out of the guy, course, he was bigger than me so I got the shit beat outta me too... Then you heard the rest from Kaiya..." he explained and let out a heavy sigh. "I thought maybe she pretended to like me the whole time.. I mean, he was the popular guy, and I was just some person with the most beautiful woman ever and she loved me... And I loved her... I thought I knew it was too good to be true. She'd try to make people happy a lot, cheer them up... She even apologized for a lot of things she didn't even do..."

Kenji let out another heavy sigh and lay back on the cliff, spreading his arms and legs out.

"It's my fault she got that curse..." he said.

Chichiri's attention immediately perked up.

"Curse?" he asked.

"She didn't tell you?" Kenji asked, slightly surprised, but pressed it back down as he realized something. "She always keeps things to herself... If I hadn't seen them together with my own eyes, she might not have even told me... That's just how she is..." he explained. "She cares a lot for people and she doesn't want them to worry..." he balled his hands into fists on the ground. "She has a black character on her left hand... And every night and whenever she uses her powers, she loses more and more of her life; she doesn't have much left..."

Kenji grit his teeth and raised his fists to push them lightly against his eyes.

"Tenkou plans to use her when her time is up." he growled.

Chichiri narrowed his eye.

"How do you know this?" he asked.

"He told all of us he would use her some how to conquer this world... Kanki knew too, but he was the only one who really didn't care..." Kenji explained an dropped his hands to the ground again. "I want to apologize to her... I don't expect she'll forgive me..." he said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Ha ha... I'd go to hell happiest man ever if she did though..."

Chichiri let it sink into his brain for a minute.

'Hikou knew... That's why he said that... And he knew that I was... That I'm...!' he paused his thought for a moment.

Kenji watched with slight amusement as he studied Chichiri's expressions; from calm to shocked realization to embarrassment and still.

"Let's go find her, no da." Chichiri said and stood up.

Kenji nodded in agreement and stood up. He wiped the rest of his tears away and with Chichiri, the two began their search for Kaiya in the forest. They searched a great distance in a short time thanks to Chichiri. He was using his powers to locate Kaiya's energy, and apparently she'd gone a long way. Some how, while they had been looking, the two had separated, but Chichiri knew that he had changed into his second form.

Eventually, Chichiri came across a deep, steep ditch that he nearly fell down because its edge was hidden away by bushes. He peered down the ditch's darkness and spotted Kaiya. She sat with her back against the rocky wall of the ditch and her knees up to her chin. She had her arms around her legs and her head rested on its side on her knees. Her expression told him that she was upset, and there wasn't a reason why she shouldn't be.

"Kaiya!" Chichiri called down.

Kaiya stiffened and quickly turned her head so her face was hidden in her arms.

'That's strange...' Chichiri thought, then called out to her again. "I'm coming down!"

He teleported down and bent to one knee to inspect Kaiya.

"Is everything okay?" he asked with concern. "Kenji and I have been looking for you."

Kaiya lifted her head up slightly to look at him.

"You're not... mad?" she asked hesitantly.

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kaiya blushed slightly and hid her face in her arms again.

"Because... um... I hit you... I'm sorry for doing that..." she said in a muffled voice. "I'm sorry you had to hear my argument with Kenji too and that you got dragged into this..."

Chichiri automatically brought a hand to rub it against his cheek at the remembrance of the slap. But despite the fact that it... kinda hurt, he had to laugh, making Kaiya become even redder behind the cover of her arms.

"It's okay. You were angry and needed to be alone for a little while but I tried to stop you.. and well..." he said and smiled in amusement.

Kaiya mewled in embarrassment and turned her head so that she faced away from him.

Chichiri's smile faded and he began to become serious.

"Are you alright now?" he asked, referring to when she was raped. "Most people... after being raped... even after a long time, are emotionally scarred and disoriented..."

Kaiya turned her head again, this time, so that she stared in front of her, but her eyes became hazed.

"Well... I guess I am... But that's probably just because everybody helped me along, you know?" she replied.

Remembering what Kenji had said about her keeping things to herself, Chichiri winced, knowing that she wasn't technically telling the truth about "everybody."

"You didn't tell everybody, did you?" he said, saying it as a statement more than as a question. "Not even Miaka and Tamahome?"

Kaiya was startled at how much he knew was to be true.

"I..." she started and tried to think of a cover-up, but telling him another lie just didn't feel right. It really wasn't right. She decided to tell him the truth. "No..." she replied. "Just my family and my doctor... My doctor..." she began slowly. "He said that because of what happened, it caused some damage, and that I wouldn't ever be able to have... any children..." She closed her eyes and turned her head away from him.

Chichiri eyed her with sadness. His fingers twitched with the urge to reach out and hold her, but he fought it back. Would it be too soon? Would she push him away?

"But..." he said. "If a man truly loved you, it wouldn't matter..."

Kaiya turned her head towards him, but stared at the ground.

"Maybe..." she nodded slowly. "But, for a man who would love me so much... I'd want to give him something." She glanced up at Chichiri and saw the sad look he gave her, along with another emotion she wasn't able to decipher. "Um... Thanks for, uh... listening to me, Chichiri." she said and bowed her head to him. "I probably shouldn't keep you here any longer. Please go back without me."

Chichiri stared at her in shock.

"What?" he exclaimed. "I'm definitely not leaving without you."

She jerked her head to look at him.

"But-" she started, but stopped when she heard the rustle of the trees and saw Kenji landing down on the ground in front of them in his second form.

Truth is, he didn't look very happy. No. Not happy at all.

"Ooooh..." she said quietly and winced. "I think he's mad at me..."

Chichiri stood up as Kenji walked towards them while slowly changing his form back to the original. Remembering her anger towards him, Kaiya knit her brows together and pouted... angrily.

Once Kenji stood in front of her, they glared at each other for a good few seconds. Then Kenji dropped to the floor, on his hands and knees and bowed his head.

"I'm so sorry!" he said.

Kaiya blinked, practically forgetting that she was angry at him.

"I'm really really sorry I never listened to you! I'm sorry for everything I did to you." he said. "If you don't forgive me, I completely understand."

Kaiya gaped at him, too startled to think of any words to say.

Chichiri smiled and teleported away, just out of hearing until they finished.

Hearing no response, Kenji lifted his head to look up at her. First, he saw her mouth was open, then her mouth closed and her hands closed over her mouth. Her body began to shake... with laughter. This time, it was his turn to gape at her.

Unable to contain it any longer, Kaiya began to laugh aloud.

"I can't believe this!" Kenji exclaimed, getting to his knees. His cheeks were pink from embarrassment as he stared at her. "I beg for your forgiveness and you're LAUGHING at me?!" He put on his best glare, but truthfully, he was glad she was laughing. At least she wasn't yelling at him.

"Well, its never happened to me before and it's kinda... surprising." she replied and wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of her eyes.

Kenji leaned closer and grasped her hands that had fallen to her lap.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked.

"Of course I am!" she exclaimed, giving him a skeptical look, which made him fall over. She shifted so her legs were at her sides. She leaned over slightly and put her hands on the ground to keep her balance. "But you didn't kill Chichiri or hurt him for that matter." she said and smiled. "So I forgive you."

Kenji felt the relief and happiness wash over him.

"But." she said, causing him to sit back up with dread. She sat straight again and continued. "Our relationship's not gonna be like it used to be." she said and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

Kenji swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head.

"No. I understand." he said and stood up. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault anyway." he said. "You better go back with Chichiri to Miaka and Taka. They'll be worried."

"What're you going to do now, Kenji?" she asked.

Kenji tilted his head back to look up at the sky, seeing the morning sun high up.

"I'm going to find a way to get rid of that curse on you." he said determinedly.

"Uh-uh." Kaiya said and shook her head. "I'd rather you go up to heaven and say hi to my dad if you see him." She smiled warmly at the imaginary scene in her head where she could see Kenji saying hello to her father way up in the clouds.

Kenji raised an eyebrow and frowned at her.

"You're gonna hate me again... But this is one of those times where I'm not gonna listen to you." he said half-jokingly. He changed into his second form and began to walk off. "See ya later." he said and flashed her a grin, then flew off.

"H-Hey!" she shouted after him.

No sooner had Kenji disappeared into the sky, Chichiri reappeared in front her.

"I.. guess you're finished, huh?" he asked and bent to grasp her hands.

Kaiya winced at the pain in her right ankle as she tried to stand up.

Chichiri narrowed his eye and gently eased her down, kneeling down himself.

"You're hurt." he stated. "Was it because of-"

"N-No!" she blurted as she realized what he was about to say. "It wasn't- It wasn't him. I just kinda twisted my ankle a little when I fell from up there." she explained and pointed a finger to the edge of the ditch. "It's not that bad. Nothing that can't heal."

Chichiri gently held her ankle in a hand and examined it.

Kaiya blushed and on reflex, she tried to slip her ankle from his grasp, but winced at the movement.

"Sorry." Chichiri said.

"N-No, it was my fault." she replied. "H-Hey, Chichiri, let's go back now. Everybody's worried, right?"

Chichiri sat back on a knee and foot, resting his hands on his legs.

"I want to talk to you first." he said seriously and closed his eye to concentrate.

"A... About what?" she asked hesitantly.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about the curse?" he asked, opening his eye again.

Kaiya stiffened and swallowed, averting her gaze away from Chichiri

"It's not... Not really a big deal." she said meekly.

"It is a big deal." he said gently, trying to ease her nerves. "Kenji told me all about it. You don't have that long left..."

"But- Chichiri..." she started but left her sentence unfinished and slouched her shoulders, realizing there was no way to convince him. "I'm sorry, Chichiri. I just thought that, Miaka and Taka should be first priority. I didn't mean to make anybody worry." she admitted. "But I guess... Now that I think about it, it's probably just worse now, huh...?" she said quietly.

She turned her head and studied him silently as a hush came about them.

"Chichiri... I want to know." she started slowly, a question nagging her. "Why... Why are you so concerned for my well being? You're a warrior of Suzaku... right? Miaka's the priestess. Shouldn't Miaka be your first priority...?"

Kaiya watched as an unfamiliar emotion flickered in his eye. Her eyes widened slightly and she backed up to the wall in response as he came closer to her.

"Because..." he murmured. He had her backed against the rock wall completely now.

"Chichiri, what are you...-" she began.

"I'm in love with you." he said.

And as quickly as his words had entered her ears, his face closed in, his eye closed, and his lips met hers.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Author notes: Hey! Alright! Another chapter done. Hmmm. Did Chichiri come on a little strong there? Maybe. Well thing is, they're moving on even further next chapter whether they like it or not. And, probably 'cause none of you are wondering what the "unfamiliar emotion" is, if anybody wants to know, or guess, comment me and I'll comment you back a response. And the ditch that they're in I forgot what those things are called that anime characters always seem to fall down and can't climb back up. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Comment please, and I'll see y'all later!


End file.
